


Her Story Started Here

by charmed4lifekaren



Series: Her Story Started Here Universe [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU- Skye as Coulson and May's daughter, Avengers not present to later chapters then play a big part in future chapters and stories, F/M, Skye is definitely her parent's daughter, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-10
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-02-04 03:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 169,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1764059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmed4lifekaren/pseuds/charmed4lifekaren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Universe Alteration after AOS episode 12. After hearing Agent Lumley story about Skye Coulson can't help but think of the similarities that the story shares with that of his and Agent May's daughter who was taken in the middle of night from her room when she was only 3 months old. He suspicion leads him to get Simmons to run a test which will change the dynamic of the team forever. ALSO POSTED ON FFN</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

Ever since Agents of Shield started I have liked the idea of the team being a family and how that connects with Skye’s history and I liked to think that somehow It would be revealed that May and Coulson were Skye’s parents, but now that seems to be getting less and less likely so I decided to write my own version of that very idea. Everything that is known up until episode twelve will be included and this story will be set right after that. Future information may be included it just depends on how quickly I write this story as I have a general idea for plot so it is possible I could have the entire story finished by the time the next episode airs in the beginning of February.  I don’t know much about the Marvel universe so if I get something wrong please, please point it out to me and I will correct it. I’m not completely positive on Ships, im not even sure if they will be a big factor in this story but most likely the end game ships will be May/Coulson, FitzSimmons, and Skye/Ward with a family relationship between all of them.

Please Review telling me what you think. I know there are a lot of Stories like this out there but I hope this one is unique.

* * *

 

It has been a few days since the events of the Academy, Donnie and finding out Skye’s past in Mexico. Ever since he talked to Agent Lumley Coulson hasn’t been able to stop thinking about what he was told. Skye isn’t the only person on the Bus who has been trying to find someone for twenty four years and even since he talked to Agent Lumley Coulson can’t help but think that maybe the searches are connected.

Deciding that he needs to know one way or another Coulson grabs three baggies of his desk each one with what looks like a cotton tip in it and heads down to the lab.

When he exits his office Coulson passes Ward, Skye and Fitz playing what looks like The Game of Life. The three young agents are so immersed in their game that none of them notice him walking down the stairs.

Entering the lab Coulson sees that Simmons is working on something on her computer.

“Fitz, I told you I would come up there when I am done.” Simmons says as the doors open and Coulson walks in, assuming once more that it Fitz coming to get her to go and play games with him and the others. “Sorry Sir, I thought you were Fitz.” Simmons says apologetically when she looks up from her computer and realises that it isn’t Fitz but Coulson.

“It’s fine. there’s something I need you to do for me.” Coulson says as Simmons stands up and walks over to him.

“Of course, what do you need?” Simmons asks.

“I need you to tell me if this sample is related to these two samples.” Coulson explains first handing over a bag where there is a tiny almost un noticeable three on it before handing over the other two. One with a small one on it the other with a small two.

“Of course I can do that Sir.” Simmons responds as she collects the baggies “What case is this for Sir? So I know what to put in the log.”

“No log.” Coulson tells her “No looking into SHEILD’s system to find a match for the samples, no questions and no telling anyone.” Coulson demands “I just need you to tell me if the samples I gave you are related and I need the results as soon as you can get them Jemma.” Coulson requests.

“Of course Sir, completely off book.” Simmons responds “I’ll have the results in about twenty minutes.” She informs her boss having a feeling that whatever it is that she is doing for him must be important to him to demand in the way that he is.

“Bring the results to my office when you’re done.” Coulson says before leaving the Lab, and Jemma to run her tests.

* * *

 

The twenty minutes after leaving the lab feel like they are some of the longest in Coulson’s life. During his waiting time Coulson becomes more thankful than he already is for SHEILD’S resources because he doesn’t think he could have handled the hours or even days it wold take to get the results if SHEILD didn’t have the technology that they do have.

Exactly twenty three minutes after leaving the lab Coulson hears a knock on his door

“Come in.” He says and to his relief it is Simmons who enters holding a piece of paper.

“What did you find out?” Coulson requests before she can even sit down.

“I ran the tests like you requested, and the results show that sample you wanted me to run against the other two is the child of them.” Simmons explains.

“Are you sure?” Coulson asks as it is one thing to suspect something, it is another altogether to be proven correct.

“Positive Sir. The tests show that there is a 99.9% chance that the sample you wanted to be tested is the child of the other samples, that’s the highest percent that the test will allow. I’m sure.” Simmons says handing over a piece of paper with the results on it.

“Thank you Simmons.”

“Sir? Are you alright?” Simmons asks concerned as she is currently seeing something she hasn’t seen before on Coulson’s face, complete shock and with a hint of pain.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you, you can go.” Coulson tells her.

Simmons nods and exits the office while Coulson sits in his chair just staring at piece of paper he was given.

For at least another twenty minutes Coulson stares at the piece of paper trying to comprehend what the little piece of paper truly means. Once he finally starts to understand for himself exactly what it means he picks up the piece of paper, puts it inside his jacket and heads to the cockpit of the plane to talk to one of the other people that the results directly affect.

As he walks past all four of the younger agents he distinctly hears Skye asking him if he wants to join them.

“Maybe later.” Coulson responds before entering the cockpit.

Walking into the Cockpit May doesn’t say anything to him as he takes a seat in the second seat. “Can you put the plane on autopilot?” Coulson asks.

“Why?”

“Because I’ve got to tell you something and I don’t think it would be a good idea if you were flying a plane when I did.” Coulson explains.

May is very curious at why Coulson said what he said but she has known him long enough to trust his judgement so she switches the plane to autopilot “What did you want to tell me?” May asks.

“I’ve always liked to think that there are no such things as coincident, you know that. A baby girl having two SHEILD teams after her only months after our little girl was taken, only weeks before Fury told us that there were no more leads on what happened to her seemed like too big of one. I couldn’t help it, it just seemed like there was more going on and I needed to know.” Coulson explains. May listens to Coulson’s words already positive about where he is going but needing to hear it directly from him otherwise she won’t believe it “After breakfast this morning, before Ward got around to do the dishes, I collected a DNA sample from both yours and Sky’s coffee mugs. I didn’t tell you in case I was wrong, I didn’t want to put you through that if I was. I collected a sample from myself and took all three of them to Simmons.  I didn’t tell her anything I just gave her the samples and asked her to find out if Skye’s sample was related to ours and she did, and she is. She’s ours Melinda, Skye’s our baby girl.” Coulson explains.

“Are you sure?” May asks her voice barely above a whisper.

“Positive.” Coulson assures.

For the first time in a long time Coulson sees tears staring to roll down May’s cheek. As soon as he sees the tears Coulson gets up and walks the two steps to May and puts his arms around her, holding her why she cries.

“I thought we would never see her again.” May reveals “but she’s been with us for months.” She says quietly as Coulson holds her.

“I know.” Coulson says quietly.

“How much do you think Fury knew?” May asks once the tears have finished falling though Coulson hasn’t stopped holding her.

“I don’t know.” Coulson responds honestly “but I am going to find out.” He promises.

“You should be the one who tells her.” May says more than five minutes later.

“No, we should tell her together.” Coulson argues.

“This is bigger than everything she has already been told. Crowding her when she is told isn’t the way to go.” May explains. “I’ve been hard on her ever since she arrived. I think she will handle it better coming from you.” May explains having on more reason as to why she wants Coulson to be the one to tell Skye but she doesn’t want to tell even Coulson that reason.

“Are you sure?” Coulson asks wanting to make sure that May is completely sure about what she is asking.

“Yes.”

“I don’t even know how to tell her.” Coulson reveals as he finally removes his arms from around May and sits back down in the other chair.

“Start at the beginning, tell her our story.” May suggests.

Coulson doesn’t respond and May doesn’t say anymore. The pair just sit and stare out the front of the plane both of them thinking of their daughter who they lost so long ago who is now found.

 

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**AN:** Only as short chapter. The next one is longer and will explain the Coulson/May and Skye backstory.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

**AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 

* * *

 

For half an hour May and Coulson sit in the cockpit in silence both of think thinking of the same person, their daughter.

Once he comes up with an idea of how to tell Skye the truth. Coulson gets up and leaves the cockpit leaving May alone to her thoughts.

“Skye, my office.” Coulson says as he walks past Simmons and Skye who are talking about something. Fitz and Ward are nowhere to be seen.

“What’s up AC?” Skye asks curious as they walk up the stairs.

“Take a seat.” Coulson requests as they enter the office.

“Is something wrong?” Skye asks clearly concerned about how Coulson is acting.

“No, I just want to tell you a story.” Coulson explains.

“Okay.” Skye says confused about why Coulson would call her to his office just to tell her a story.

“When I first started at the Academy for a while I spent most of my time alone. All I cared about was being the best Agent that I could be, but I wasn’t the only one. In my first few weeks I met someone who had just the same amount of drive and determination as I did but who had more fun, and she helped me to loosen up a bit. We pushed eachother and were the best of friends. To this day she is the most amazing Agent and person I have ever met.” Coulson explains a small smile on his face as her remembers.

“You loved her.” Skye realises.

“Yeah, I do.” Coulson admits.  

“What happened?” Skye asks concerned as she has a feeling that it isn’t a good story just by the look Coulson has on his face.

“I’m getting to that.” Coulson explains, realising as he looks at Skye that she looks so much like how May looked when she asked what happened to his parents when they were still at the Academy.

“When we graduated we’re assigned to different places, but then a year after we graduated we were assigned as partners for missions. When we were at the Academy we were in a relationship, there was no rules against it back then, but when we graduated we decided to end it because we felt like it was for the best, but within a year and a half of being partners we were back together and were even married, secretly, because we weren’t sure how S.H.I.E.L.D would react if they knew. We had only been married a couple of months when we found out that we were going to be parents.” Coulson explains remembering the joy he felt when May told him that she was pregnant.

“You’re a father?” Skye asks surprised.

“Until she was taken from us.” Coulson says sadly.

“What happened?” Skye asks becoming even more confused as to why he is telling her this story when it is clearly something very personal.

“The day my daughter was born was the best day of my life. S.H.I.E.L.D suspended Melinda and me for keeping our marriage secret, but we didn’t mind. It gave us more time to spend with our baby girl who we loved more than anything.” Coulson explains but before he can explain more Skye interrupts.

“Melinda? Are you talking about Agent May?” Skye asks surprised.

“Yes.”

“You and Agent May, are married?” Skye asks shocked.

“Not anymore.” Coulson answers sadly.

Skye has a million questions for Coulson but she realises that it might be best to let him finish his story before she asks any of them.  

“Three months after she was born we put our daughter to bed just like we always did. We checked and there was nothing unusual. All the doors and windows were locked and the security system was on, but as soon as we woke up the next morning we knew something was wrong.” Coulson explains doing his best not to remember the dread he felt when he woke up that morning and just knew that something had happened “For the first time since she was born she didn’t wake us once. We raced into our daughter’s room and we found her gone.” Coulson explains.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry.” Skye says not being able to imagine what Coulson and May went through when they discovered their daughter gone.

Coulson gives Skye a small nod in responds then continues with his story “We called S.H.I.E.L.D and within a few hours we discovered that we were drugged with a gas that put us into a deep sleep, which is why we didn’t hear anyone break in and take our daughter. Director Fury assured us that they would do whatever it took to get our baby girl back but Melinda and I weren’t to be involved. We didn’t listen, we couldn’t. It was our little girl out there and there was nothing that anyone could do to keep us from looking her. Thirty six hours after she was taken, the longest thirty six hours of my life, S.H.I.E.L.D was contacted by an organization similar to Centipede. They had taken my daughter because they wanted a test subject and they somehow found out about my daughter and thought that the child of two of S.H.I.E.L.D’s best agents was the perfect person to test their newest experiment on, they thought that someday she would be the perfect weapon against S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D did what they could to trace the contact, but they told us that they couldn’t, that they had no leads.” Coulson explains now wondering if that was actually the truth or not. “Three months after she was taken, when there was still no word on her, and when the one lead we did have turned up nothing, Melinda and I were falling apart. We were doing everything we could think of to try and find our daughter but we couldn’t find anything. We had both moved out of the house, neither of us could bear to live there anymore but we couldn’t sell it either so it just sat there, still does, the whole house is still almost exactly the same as it was the night our girl was taken. It was at that time that director Fury called Melinda and I for a meeting. He told us that there was no more leads as to where our girl was so unless they found another lead it would no longer be classified as an active investigation. He said that in his opinion our daughter was most likely dead.” Coulson explains.

“They gave up looking for your daughter just like that?” Skye asks disbelief and anger clear in her voice.

“Just like that.” Coulson answers “Melinda and I didn’t take that too well. Melinda actually knocked out about dozen agents that Fury ordered to try and subdue her. Neither of us took Fury telling us our daughter was likely dead well, but it destroyed Melinda. Both of us blamed SHEILD, Fury, whoever it was that took her and eachother, but neither of us blamed anymore more than we each blamed ourselves. We kept trying to make our marriage work but we were broken, losing our girl broke us and staying together would have just hurt us more. ” Coulson explains “Eight years after our girl was taken, long after Melinda and I were divorced was the Bahrain mission, where as you know Melinda got her name the Calvary. Losing our girl changed Melinda so much, but it was Bahrain that truly made her into the Agent, the person, that you know now.” Coulson explains. “I never gave up trying to find my girl and neither did Melinda, but neither of us found a solid lead.”

“Do you want me to try?” Skye offers assuming that maybe this is why Coulson is telling her the story “I can do whatever I can to see if I can find something that you and May couldn’t. See if I can find your girl for you.” Skye offer wanting to do whatever she can do to help.

“I’ve already found her.” Coulson says pulling out the DNA results out of his jacket and handing them to Skye.

“I don’t understand, why are you showing me this? What does it mean?” Skye asks confused.

“Ever since I talked to Agent Lumley I had this feeling, this feeling that there was more than just what he was saying. I couldn’t help but think that there were two baby girls both born around the same time and at one point both had SHEILD agents after them, and I wondered could they be the same girl.” Coulson explains.

“Are you saying…?” Skye asks not even being able to bring herself to ask what she is actually thinking.

“This morning I took a DNA sample of your Coffee mug, one of Melinda’s and collected a sample of my own and took the three down to Simmons to get her to test the samples and determine if there were any relation. You’re holding the results.” Coulson explains.

“I’m your daughter?” Skye asks in a quiet voice, barely able to say the words out loud.

“Yes.” Coulson asks.

“The daughter that was taken form you at three months old?” Skye asks and Coulson nods “If I’m your daughter then why did Avery take me to the Orphanage?”

“I don’t know.” Coulson answers truthfully “I think the most likely answer is that she didn’t know who you were. I think that she and the others on her team were only told that you were an 0-8-4. I don’t know if Fury knew that you were our daughter when he sent a team in to investigate.” Coulson explains.

For a while Skye just sits in her chair in silence, trying to understand everything that Coulson just told her.

“Skye, are you alright?” Coulson asks concerned when after a while she hasn’t said another word.

“I need some time. This is too much, I need some time to think.” Skye says standing up.

“Okay, well I’m here when you’re ready.” Coulson says as he opens his desk draw to try and find something, knowing Skye well enough to know that he can’t push her. “I want you to have this.” Coulson says handing Skye over a picture. “It was taken the day you were born. Your mother and I both have about ten copies each of that picture. You should have at least one.”

Skye looks down at the picture and the second she does she feels tears well up in her eyes as she looks down at a younger Coulson and May holding a newborn baby, her. “Why isn’t May here telling me this as well? Did she not want to?” Skye ask doing her best to try and make it sound like she isn’t asking doesn’t she want me.

“She thought it would be best if you weren’t crowed when you were told, considering how you two have been getting along she thought it would be best coming from me, but I know that wasn’t her only reason.” Coulson explains.

“What do you mean?” Skye asks, fighting to keep her voice steady.

“Like I said losing our girl, loosing you, destroyed Melinda. I think that she didn’t think she could handle seeing your reaction if you didn’t take it well. As strong as she may seem I know that she wouldn’t be able to handle loosing you for a second time especially when she just found out who you really are.” Coulson explains.

Skye nods and without another word she leaves Coulson’s office.

* * *

 

After leaving Coulson’s, her fathers, office Skye runs down the stairs and into her bunk. Not hearing, Fitz, Simmons and Wards worried calls.

“I wonder what that’s about.” Fitz asks concerned about the woman that he is beginning to start to see as a sister.  

“Should one of us go talk to her?” Ward suggest worried about what could possibly make Skye cry, which it was clear she was doing, and ignore them.

“I will.” Simmons says standing up “Neither of you are particularly good at talking to women.” Simmons says before walking over to Skye’s bunk.

“Skye, it’s Jemma, can I come in?” Simmons asks as she knocks. Simmons waits a couple of minutes but she doesn’t receive an answer in return but she does continue to hear Skye’s cries. “Please Skye, I’m alone and I just want to make sure that you are alright.” For about another minute Simmons just waits and listens to Skye crying until she hears someone moving and the distinct sound of the bunk door unlock.  Sliding open the door Jemma enters her friend’s bunk, wondering what could have possibly effected Skye so much.

 

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**AN:** I know that you didn’t get to see much Skye’s reaction but you will in the next chapter. I wanted this chapter to be able Coulson telling Skye the story of her parents before she knew that they were. The next chapter is longer than the previous two chapters combined, and chapter four is even longer.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

**AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 

* * *

 

As soon as she sees he friend Jemma is even more positive that something is wrong. Closing and locking the door behind her Simmons walks over and sits down next to Skye, who is sitting upright on her bed with her legs up against her chest and her arms around them crying. “What happened? What did Coulson want?” Simmons asks assuming.

“He..” Skye beings to say but she isn’t able to get much else out because she is crying.

“It’s alright.” Simmons says putting her arms around her friend not sure what else she can do to help.

For about Fifteen minutes they stay like that Skye crying why Jemma holds her. “Here you need to drink.” Simmons says pulling a water bottle out from under Skye’s bed where she keeps a stash of food and water hidden for reasons that she won’t explain. “You will get dehydrated if you don’t.”

Skye grabs the bottle of water off of Simmons. “Drink it slowly. Small sips.” Simmons advices and Skye does just that.  “Would you like to talk now?” Simmons asks curious once Skye has had several sips of water and her crying has stopped a bit.

Skye nods and after taking a deep breath trying to calm herself down she begins to speak “You know that I never knew who my parents are and that finding them was the reason I joined the Rising tide.” Skye tells her.

“Yes, you told me that.” Simmons answers.

“I had one lead and that was a piece of paper that was redacted, by S.H.I.E.L.D.” Skye explains “After what happened with Miles I gave Coulson everything I had and he told me that he would look into it and he did. When Coulson and May dropped us of at the Academy he and May went to talk to an Agent who was the partner of the S.H.I.E.L.D Agent that took me to the Orphanage. He told May and Coulson that his team was sent to find a 0-8-4, me. I apparently had powers, I was found asleep in the arms of a dead Agent. When the team got back to the States they started to get killed. The reason I was in so many foster homes when I was a kid wasn’t because no one wanted me, but it was because it was a S.H.I.E.L.D protocol to keep me safe.” Skye explains.

“Do you know what kind of powers?” Jemma asks interested.

“No. Apparently the Agent never saw them, but a whole village died protecting me.” Skye explains not being able to keep the guilt out of her voice as she thinks of all the deaths that have happened because of her.

“I don’t understand if Coulson told you all this a few days ago, what did he tell you today that made you so upset?” Jemma asks concerned.

“There’s more, and I’m not upset, I’m… Overwhelmed.” Skye explains having difficulty trying to find the word that explains what she is feeling “After hearing what the Agent told him Coulson couldn’t help but think about the similarities that my story had with that of his and May’s daughter who was taken when she was three months old by an organization like Centipede. They took their daughter to use her as a test subject for whatever it was that they were creating and so that one day they could train her to be the perfect weapon against S.H.I.E.L.D, wanting to know if his suspicion was correct Coulson got you to run a DNA test.” Skye explains.

“Oh my.” Simmons says realising what Skye is saying “That was your DNA sample, yours, Coulson’s and Agent May’s. You’re their daughter.” Simmons realises and Skye nods.

“Oh wow.” Simmons says not sure what else to say.

“I don’t know how to handle this Jemma.” Skye reveals a couple of minutes later “I was starting to think that I would never find out who my parents were and that it didn’t matter because I have a family in S.H.I.E.L.D but now.. I don’t know what to do.” Skye admits. “What do I do?”

“Only you can answer that.” Simmons tells her friend. “But Skye, I’ve heard you call out a night, I’ve heard your cries. You wanted to know who you parents are more than anything and now you’ve found them. I understand that this must be a shock and it will take you a while to digest it, but whether you want to get to know Coulson and May as your parents, whether you want to let them have the chance that was stolen away from them, or whether you want to keep going like nothing has changed, is up to you, but know you are not alone. You have me and Fitz and even Ward. We’re here for you no matter what you choose to do.” Simmons tells her friend.

“Thank you.” Skye says “It’s just all too much, I don’t know what to do and I don’t know how to act around them. Coulson said that loosing me is what changed May, I’m the reason she is how she is and I’m the reason they got divorced. I don’t know how to handle that. I don’t know how to be a daughter. I don’t know how to be a part of a family. What If they realise that and don’t want me?” Skye admits as she starts to hyperventilate.

“Skye, look at me, please, look at me.” Simmons instructs and Skye does just that “I need you to do exactly what I am doing.” Simmons says and begins to do very deep breathing “In and out. In an out.” Simmons keeps repeating and slowly Skye begins to do just that. “Good, that’s good. Keep doing that.” Simmons instructs and for several minutes that is exactly what Skye does.

“I don’t know why that happened.” Skye admits once her breathing is back under control “I haven’t had a panic attack since I was a teenager.”

“It’s okay, you’re overwhelmed. It’s completely understandable.” Simmons assures her friend.

“He gave me this.” Skye reveals showing Jemma the picture that Coulson gave her “It was taken the day I was born.” She reveals. “I’ve never seen a picture of myself from before I started school. Never. I always believed there were none.”

“I’ve never realised before, but you do look a lot like Agent May.” Simmons comments looking between the picture and Skye herself.

“You think?” Skye asks surprised as she gets the photo of Simmons.

“Yeah I do.” Simmons answers.

“I’m tired.” Skye says a few minutes later “And I don’t know what to think, or say, or do.”

“Well get some sleep then.” Simmons tells her friend, realising that between the panic attack, the crying and everything she has been told today she is likely to be exhausted, most likely because everything is too much for her “I’ll make sure no one disturbs you and if you sleep through dinner I’ll make sure there is something for when you wake up.”

“Really?” Skye asks surprised.

“Of course.” Simmons tells her. “I’ll even make sure Fitz and Ward aren’t too loud.”

“Thanks.” Skye tells her as Simmons stands up.

“You’re very welcome.” Simmons tells her with a small smile.

Simmons is almost at the door when Skye stops her “I mean it Jemma, thank you. I’ve always looked after myself and during my whole life there has only been a couple of people who looked out for me. So you looking after me means everything to me.” Skye tells her friend.

Simmons isn’t sure how to respond to that so she just gives Skye a small smile and leaves her friend’s bunk. After Jemma leaves Skye gets changed into her pyjama’s, which consists of a tank top and sweat pants, and climbs into bed and closes her eyes, holding the picture that Coulson gave to her close to her chest as she does.

* * *

 

As soon as Simmons walks over to Ward and Fitz they bombard her with questions

“What’s going on with Skye?” 

“Is she okay?”

“Why was she crying?”

“Did something happen to her?”

“Enough with the questions.” Simmons says loudly over the many questions coming at her.  

“Simmons, is she okay?” Ward asks stressing each word.

“She’s overwhelmed and dealing with some things, things that are personal and private so don’t ask her about what she is dealing with unless she tells you first, but yes she is okay.” Simmons explains “What she needs more than anything is time. She needs time to deal with something’s so until I say otherwise no one but me is to go near her bunk. She needs space and you both are going to give it to her.” Simmons explains shocking both Fitz and Ward with how forceful she is being “She is currently attempting to get some sleep so neither of you are to make any loud noises that could wake her. Am I clear?” Simmons asks and both Fitz and Ward nod. “Good. Now who else would like to play a nice quite game of dominos?” Simmons asks the boys both of whom nod.

Unknowns to Simmons, Ward and Fitz, Coulson is standing at the top of the stares that leads to his office listening, and May is standing in the corridor that leads to the cockpit doing the same. Both are thankful that their daughter talked to someone about everything, glad that she isn’t dealing with everything alone.

* * *

 

After hearing Simmons’s little speech May heads back into the cockpit. Like she has been ever minute since Coulson told her that the youngest member of the team is actually her daughter that she thought she lost a long time ago, May is thinking about Skye.

Since Skye joined the team she has let very little of her past be known. From what Skye has said and the way she acts May has observed a few things and behaviours all of which make her realises that Skye, her daughter, didn’t have the easiest life, something that she hates because it was never meant to be like that.

As she fly’s the plan May thinks about how even not knowing that she is their daughter Coulson has gotten to know Skye. He has spent time with her and she has opened up to him and knowing who Skye is she can’t help but be a little jealous of that. Ever since Skye joined the plan, since the whole team was founded May has been hard on her partly because given Skye’s history she was worried about her loyalties and partly because it’s how she looks after people. She was hard, maybe even too hard, on Skye to protect her, but she doubts that Skye realises that.

For more than twenty four years she has been thinking about what it would be like to see her daughter again and what she would say, but now that the day has actually come she doesn’t know what to do, she doesn’t know how what to say.

* * *

           

Like his ex-wife Coulson is also thinking about their daughter. He is thinking about all the things he never got to do with her and everything he missed. Ever since May found out that she was pregnant Coulson had plans for his child and was determine that he would always be there and that she would always know how much he loved her and that he would always be there for her. Something that disappeared as soon as they woke to find her gone.

When he told Skye that he has about ten copies of the picture of the three of them the day she was born he wasn’t exaggerating. After she was taken the only things that they had left were pictures and memories. Ever picture they took from when Skye was born to when she was taken both May and Coulson got multiple prints of. Neither one of them wanting to loose one of the few pieces of their daughter they had left. One of those pictures is what Coulson is currently looking at. It’s is a picture that at the time he didn’t realise May took.

The picture is of him holding Skye while sitting in Lola. He remembers that day very well. Skye was only a two weeks old and fusing, he thought May was asleep so he took Skye out into the garage so that May wouldn’t get woken up and showed her Lola. He remembers telling the baby that the car was special and that when she was a bit bigger that they would go in drives in the car together and that one day when Mommy wasn’t home he would show her that the car can fly. May told him later that night that he will not be taking their daughter for a fly in the car until she was at least ten.

* * *

 

A few hours later the team minus Skye are in the kitchen about to sit down for dinner.

“Is Skye joining us?” Ward asks Simmons thinking that she would be the only one who knows the answer, but as he has noticed that both Coulson and May are quieter than normal, something that in May’s case is difficult to do, he suspects that they know too.

“No, she’s still asleep.” Simmons reveals. “I told her I would leave her something if she did sleep through dinner.”

“Good.” Coulson says and when Ward and Fitz aren’t looking he gives Simmons a grateful smile that she returns.

“Is there any new mission Sir?” Ward asks once everyone is sitting at the table and being very quiet, something that usually doesn’t happen during their group dinners.

“Not at the moment. We’re going to stop for a refuelling and supply stop in the morning and I will work on our next mission then.” Coulson explains and the whole group goes back to eating. Coulson and May not feeling like engaging in conversation.

“Sir, what don’t Fitz and I know?” Ward asks as few minutes later, wanting to know what is effecting his team because he can’t protect them if he doesn’t know.

“Nothing that you need to know Agent Ward.” Coulson tells him.

“I believe I do Sir. Skye ran out of your office crying and locked herself in her room and took a nap during the day, something that she has never done since being on this bus. You, Agent May, and Simmons clearly know what is going on and Fitz and I don’t. We are a team Sir, I think we should all be informed about something that is affecting one of our team members.” Ward explains showing just how far he has come from the Agent who didn’t even want to be a part of a team a few months earlier.  

“You don’t need to know Agent Ward.” May says angrily as the rest of the team don’t need to know anything until Coulson, Skye and her figure out what the latest revelation actually means for them and the team “If it is decided that you need to know then you will know.” She says before getting up and going back to the cockpit leaving half of her dinner un eaten.

“Do not ask again Agent Ward.” Coulson says before grabbing his plate and heading upstairs to eat the rest of his food in his office.

“I told you not to question what was going on.” Simmons reminds Ward as soon as May and Coulson are out of hearing range.

“You told me not to question Skye, and I didn’t.” Ward explains “I just want to know what is going on with Skye.” He explains as given how Coulson and May have reacted he has become even more concerned about Skye.

“When she is ready for you to know I am sure that you will.” Simmons tells him “Don’t question Skye or Agent Coulson or Agent May about this again. It won’t end well for you if you do.” Simmons explains.

“Jemma please, what is going on? We’re worried about Skye, that’s all.” Fitz tells her, concern for his friend very clear in the way he speaks.

“I know that Fitz and so does Coulson and May, but for now you’ve just got to stay in the dark about what is going on.” Simmons’s explains.

“Why?” Both Fitz and Ward ask.

“Because for now at least it’s not important that you know” She explains before standing up and starting to clean the plates that have been left.

As Simmons clean up Ward and Fitz have a quite conversation about what they should do and they decide that they will give it twenty four hours, assuming there is no mission, before they ask again. If they do get another mission they will ask sooner.

* * *

 

Hours after all the others have gone to bed Skye wakes. She walks into the kitchen and sees a sticky note on the microwave. “Skye, heat for three minutes and enjoy. Jemma.” Skye is very thankful to Jemma for remembering to leave her food because she is quite hungry, but after a lifetime of broken promises she is also surprised that she did. After setting the time on the microwave Skye grabs her cutlery and a bottle of water for herself.

Once her food is ready Skye collects and sits down on one of the couches and eats. The whole time she does she thinks about May and Coulson and the fact that they are actually her parents. A few weeks after she joined the team, before the incident with Miles, Skye remembers that she made a joke about Mum and Dad fighting when Coulson and May were fighting but she never even thought in her wildest dreams of the possibility that it could be true, that May and Coulson could actually be her parents.

As she eats she thinks about everything Coulson told her and as she does she is thankful that he told her the way he did. Glad that he told her everything about his and May’s past and what they went through before telling her that she was their daughter because it allowed her to understand more  and she guesses have fewer questions, though she still has a thousands more.

Once she finishes eating Skye washes up her plate and tries to decide what to do. Due to her long nap she is no longer tied and she doesn’t really want to be alone, but as it is the middle of the night the last part may not be a choice. Until she remembers that there is a person on the bus who seems like she never sleep.

Skye stands in the kitchen and debates what to do. She realises that if she goes into the Cockpit she will be spending time with May for the first time since she found out that she was her Mother, but as Coulson’s words about how May wouldn’t be able to handle losing her again come to her she realises that maybe it’s just what she should do. Even though she is still not sure how she feels about Coulson and May being her parents she knows that Jemma is right, that getting to know her parents is the one thing she has wanted more than anything in her whole life.

Skye decides that she is definitely going to go into the cockpit to sit with May but as it turns out deciding to do something an actually doing it are two very different things. After a lifetime of feeling like she wasn’t wanted Skye can’t help but think about what she would do if she lets Coulson and May in, if she starts to actually see them as her parents and then it turns out that they don’t want her, that she isn’t the daughter that they want. After all how could she be? They are legends and she is a hacker.

As she stands in the kitchen having almost completely talked herself out of going into the cockpit she realises that she already wants this, she wants to have a relationship with Coulson and May. Before she found out that they were her parents she wanted their approval and to be a real member of the team, but now she wants them to accept her for who she is. She wants to get to know them as her parents.   

Taking a deep breath Skye leaves the kitchen and walks to the cockpit. When she reaches the door she hesitates for a minute before pushing open the door and entering.

* * *

 

When the door opens May expects to see Coulson, the last person she expected to see walk into the cockpit is Skye.

As she walks in Skye sits down in the chair across from May without a word. Feeling like Skye will talk when she is ready, and not minding the silence as just the fact that Skye came into the cockpit to sit with her means a lot, May doesn’t say anything either.

“What did you guys name me? What’s my real name?” Skye asks. Finally speaking after more than fifteen minutes of silence as it is one of the many questions she has had as long as she can remember.

“May.” Melinda answers “May Philippa Coulson.” She answers.

“Really?” Skye asks surprised and a little amused that they managed to name her after both of them though she does like it. 

“Really. It was your Dad’s idea.” Melinda confirms “Almost every day since we found out that we were having a girl Phil and I discussed names, and every time we did it ended in a fight. Your name was the only thing we couldn’t agree on. We agreed on everything else except that. When you were born your Dad suggested that we put May as your first name and Coulson as your last, I agreed but insisted that in that case Philippa was to be your middle.” Melinda explained surprising Skye with how much she said.

“May Philippa.” Skye repeats “I like it.” She tells Melinda with a small smile.

“I’m glad.” Melinda responds truly meaning her words. “Skye you need to know that your father and I never stopped looking for you. Even after we got divorced the only thing we wanted was you back with us and we did everything we could to find you. If we had even the smallest idea of where you were we would have come and gotten you in a heartbeat, no matter what it took.” Melinda explains needing Skye to know especially considering her history that the one thing both her and Coulson always wanted was her back.

“Coulson told me that you never stopped looking.” Skye tells her “But he also told me that me it was because I was taken that you guys divorced.” Skye admits.

Trying to think of the best way to phrase what she wants to say Melinda slightly curses Coulson, he shouldn’t have told her that she was the reason they got a divorced “You been taken from us changed us both and we became different people. We were both hurting so much and sometimes we didn’t realises the other was hurting just as much. After Director Fury told us that there were no more leads on you we both devoted everything we had to two things, finding you and the job. We let everything else fall away. Eventually we realised that we were just hurting eachother and destroying everything we had left, everything we were, by staying together. But that wasn’t because of you. It was because of us.” Melinda explains.

Skye nods feeling like it wouldn’t be the best idea to argue with May but she can’t help but still feel like their divorce was her fault.

“It’s a really pretty view.” Skye admits looking out of the front of the plane, partly because she wants to change the subject, partly because it is a really good view.

“I’ve always thought so.” May tells her.

“It is a little cold in here though.” Sky admits thinking that maybe wearing a tank top and sweat pants wasn’t the best idea.

“There’s a blanket in the cupboard behind you.” Melinda informs her daughter.

“You don’t mind if I stay?” Skye asks her question having more meaning than simply being what she is asking.

“I would very much like it if you did.” Melinda tells her realising the double question in the question.

Glad with the answer Skye gets up and opens the cupboard that May directed her too she opens it and grabs out the blanket. Once she does she puts it around her and snuggles into the chair. Neither her nor May saying anymore.

 

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**AN:** For those of you who are curious about how much I have written in comparison to how much I have posted at the time of posting this chapter I am working on chapter seven.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

Once again thank you so much for the amazing response to this story. You are all so incredible.

* * *

 

About an hour and a half after Skye collected the blanket she has fallen asleep on the chair. When May looked over at her daughter and realised that she was asleep she debated carrying her to her bed or waking her and sending her to bed, but she decided that she didn’t want to wake her as she looks very peaceful sleeping like she is.

Once the sun has started to rise Skye turns her head into the chair more and lifts the blanket up higher to block out the sun. All without waking up as unknown to May it is something that she has experience with.

A little while after the sun rises the door opens and Coulson walks in. “How far away are we?” Coulson asks in a normal tone of voice not realising that Skye is asleep in the chair.

“Shhh.” Melinda hisses at him not wanting him to wake Skye.

“Skye?” Coulson says surprised in a whisper “What’s she doing here?” Coulson asks Melinda quietly.

“She came in the early hours of this morning. We talked and she asked if she could stay up here for a while. She was cold so I told her where the blanket was and eventually she fell asleep.” May explains in a very quiet whisper then remember what Skye asked she asks in angry whisper “What were you thinking when you told her that our divorce was her fault?”

“I didn’t tell her that, not really.” Coulson defends “I just told her that after we lost her we kept trying to make our marriage work but we were broken, losing our girl broke us and staying together would have just hurt us more.” Coulson explains.

“That is as good as telling her it was her fault.” Melinda whispers angrily “You need to think more before you speak Phil.” She whispers as Skye stirs but does not wake.

“What else did you talk about?” Coulson asks. 

“Not much.” Melinda answers “She asked what her name was so I told her and I also told her how her name was the only thing we couldn’t agree on and how it was your idea. She liked it, he name, she said she liked it.” Melinda explains with a small smile. “And I told her that we never stopped looking for her, that finding her was the only thing that mattered to us, and that if we had even the slightest idea of where she was we would have gone there in a heartbeat.”  

“How do you think she’s doing?” Coulson asks looking down at her sleeping daughter.

“I don’t know, it’s hard to say at the moment. Her whole world has just been turned upside down. For the second time in a matter of days. It’s got to be odd for her.” Melinda explains “We’re going to be heading in for landing in about ten minutes. Go and make sure everyone is buckled in. I’ll wake Skye.” Melinda suggests.

“No need. I’m awake.” Skye voice answers pulling the blanket down so it is no longer blocking the sun from her eyes “Wow. Really, really bright.” She says trying to adjust to the light, “For the record neither of you whisper as quietly as you think you do.” She informs her newly found parents.

“How long have you been awake?” Coulson asks wondering how much she heard.

“Not long. I woke as you asked how May thinks I’m doing.” Skye explains.

“I’m sorry but we need to finish this conversation later. Phil go wake up the others and get buckled in. Skye buckle up, we’re minutes away from starting our decent.” Melinda says before Coulson can responds.

Coulson nods and leaves the cockpit leaving Mother and Daughter alone.

“I don’t get it why do we have to be buckled in when we land and take off, but no other times? This isn’t exactly a normal plan after all” Skye asks curious as she buckles her seat belt.

“Because it’s when things are the most dangerous and most bumpy. It’s safer for everyone if everyone is buckled in when that happens.” May explains “Coulson, is everyone buckled in?” Melinda asks through the communicators.

“Yeah, we’re all in.” Coulson tells her.

“Okay starting decent.” Melinda says pressing all different buttons.

Skye just watches with Melinda does with interest as the whole time that she has been on the bus she hasn’t really thought much about how difficult it must be to fly the plane.

“You can unbuckle now. We’re landed” May says through the communicators.

“How long have you been able to fly a plan?” Skye asks curious.

“Years, I got my license my first year out of the Academy.” May explains as the door opens and Coulson once more walks in.

“We’re stopped for a supply run for a couple of hours but I was thinking that we send the others to get the supplies so that we could have a chance to talk, just the three of us.” Coulson suggests.

Melinda nods and turns to Skye “Skye?” She asks.

“I’d like that.” Skye says after a minute of hesitating. “There’s a few things that I need, but I can write a list and ask Simmons if she could get them for me, talking sounds good to me.” Skye says “I’ll see you in a little while.” Skye says getting up and leaving the cockpit, Coulson and May.

* * *

 

As soon as she enters the main part of the room she spots Simmons who seemed to have spotted her at the same time.

“What happened? Where were you this morning?” Simmons asks Sky as they both sit down on the couch that they both managed to almost walk into.

“With May.” Skye answers.

“Really? How did that go?” Simmons asks excitedly.

“Good, we talked a little and I found out what my real name is.” Skye explains a huge smile on her face as she one of the things she has wanted most since she was a little kid is to know what her real name is “I feel asleep in the cockpit and I woke to May and Coulson whispering, trying to be quite but completely failing at it.” She explains “We’re going to talk, when you all go and get supplies all three of us are going to sit down and talk, figure everything out I guess.” She says both looking forward and concerned about how the talk is going to go “Talking about you all. Where are Fitz and Ward?” She asks not seeing the boys anywhere.

“Fitz is having a shower and Ward is in the cargo bay working out.” Simmons explains.

“Oh crap.” Skye says worried “With everything that is going on I completely forgot about training. Ward is going to kill me.” She says.

“No, he’s not.” Simmons assures “He told me to tell you that you have the morning off from training, but do not expect it again.” She explains.

“That’s strangely nice of him.” Skye comments surprised.

“He’s worried about you.” Simmons informs Skye.

“How much does he know?” Skye asks not sure if she is ready for everyone to know something that is so new, something that she is still trying to comprehend.

“Neither he nor Fritz know what’s going on.” Simmons answers “They asked me but all I told them was that you were going through some personal things and they weren’t to question you about it.” She explains “But then last night at dinner Ward sort of demanded that Coulson and May tell him what is going on.” Simmons explains almost hesitantly.

“Oh god, what happened?” Skye asks concerned.

“They both told him that he doesn’t need to know and that if he needs to know he will.” Simmons explains.

“Why would they say that?” Skye asks her lifelong fear of not being wanted showing itself once more “Are they ashamed that I’m their daughter? Do they not want anyone to know?” She asks.

“Skye calm down or you’re going to give yourself another panic attack. Deep breaths remember.” Simmons reminds Skye then watches as she takes those deep breaths before continuing “This is new for all of you and even you are nervous about the others finding out before you have a chance to talk so I’m sure it’s the same for them. As new as this is for you it just as new for them.”

“Right, your right. I’m getting myself worked up over nothing.” Skye says putting on a careless face but not so deep down she is still nervous. “There was something I needed you to do for me.” Skye remembers “There are some things I need so I was wondering if I make a list could you get the items for for me?”

“Of course I can.” Simmons tells her.

“Good shower’s free.” Fitz says walking out into the common area of the plane as while there are two showers for the five agents to share, Coulson having his own bathroom, only one of the showers is really good.

“You take it.” Skye tells Simmons. “I’ll go next.” She tells her.

“You sure? That means you have to compete with Ward.” Simmons reminds her.

“Ward doesn’t care which shower he uses when he’s coming from a workout. Go, I don’t mind.” Skye tells her.

“Thanks.” Jemma says standing up and racing over to her bunk to get her stuff.

“Skye up for weird breakfast cereal combination?” Fitz asks from the kitchen.

“Absolutely.” Skye says standing up and heading over to the kitchen.

* * *

 

An hour later everyone is dressed, showed, has had breakfast and are standing in the common area waiting for Coulson to start talking to them.  May is the last to arrive as she was re fuelling the plan.

“Ward, Fitzsimmons you have two hours to go and collect all the supplies that we need. Ward here is the list that has been up for the last week.” Coulson says handing over the piece of paper, once May walked back in the room.

“Sir, what about Agent May, Skye and yourself? What will you be doing?” Ward asks.

“We will be staying here.” Coulson explains “See you in two hours.” He tells Fitz, Ward and Simmons, clearly giving a dismissal.

As she follows Ward and Fitz out Simmons turns to face Sky and mouths, “Relax”, and “Breathe” at her, and Skye mouths “I will” back.

“So, um talk.” Skye says hesitantly, not sure how to start the conversation.

“I’ve got to collect something from upstairs first, so I’ll see you both at the couches in a couple of minutes.” Coulson says before climbing up the stairs.

“What does he need to get?” Skye asks May feeling like she would know.

“Knowing him, it could be anything.” May answers truthfully.

“Really?” Skye asks amused as they reach the couches Skye sitting down on one of the single chairs why May sits on the couch.

“Really. You’ve seen his collection of things in his office?” May asks and Skye nods “He has a lot more. But my guess is that he wants to show you pictures from those three months we had with you.” May explains.

“He was telling me about that yesterday.” Skye remembers “Told me that you both got a lot of copies made of the picture you had.”

“Yeah, we did.” May confirms.

“So with you guys once being married and all I’ve got to know; have you ever gotten to drive Lola?” Skye asks curious.

“No. No one besides Phil gets to drive that thing.” Melinda tells her.

“How many times do I have to tell you that Lola isn’t a thing?” Coulson says walking down the stairs, carrying a small box.

“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s just a car?” Melinda shots back.

“Melinda’s never liked Lola much.” Coulson explains to Skye as he places the box he brought down on the table and sits down next to Melinda.

“How can you not like Lola? She’s awesome.” Skye says surprised and Coulson has a huge grin on his face.

“Don’t gloat.” Melinda tells Coulson knowing exactly what he is thinking, more specifically what he is remembering, “I will admit that the special features that the car has can be useful but I do not understand your obsession with it.”

“I’m not obsessed.” Coulson objects.

“Yes, you are.” Melinda responds as Skye just watches her newly found parents with a smile on her face liking that she gets to see the sides of them both that they don’t show when they are around other people.

“You must have questions.” Coulson says to Skye knowing form experience that the conversation about whether or not he is obsessed with Lola can go on for a long time and wanting to end it before it gets to that point.

“Yeah, I do. I have a lot of them.” Skye admits.

“What do you want to know?” May asks.

Skye thinks for a minute trying to decide which of the many questions she should ask “Did you ever find the people who took me?” She asks curious.

“We found out the people who were behind it but not the exact people who took you.” Coulson answers “We broke down the entire operation, but there was no sign on you. As far as we could tell you were once kept in Malaysia, but how you got from there to a village in China, I don’t know. After Malaysia we had no idea where you were taken or what happened to you.” Coulson explains.

Skye nods and tries to decide what her next question should be “Did you ever think about giving up? Just not looking for me anymore?” She asks not looking at either of them.

“I never gave up, I never even considered it.” Melinda says and at her voice Skye looks up at her “There were times when I wondered if I was ever going to find you but I never gave up. No matter how many years past I still kept attempting to come up with different ways to try and find you.” May explains.

“It was the same for me.” Coulson adds.

“Really?’ Skye as a tear coming to her eye as she thinks of how much they must have done to try and find her.

“Really.” Coulson and May confirm.

“How about we look at the pictures?” Coulson suggests after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Skye says, wiping her tears away “But hang on a second.” Skye says getting up and going into her bunk to collect her own small box. “It’s not much but it’s just a few things I’ve held onto over the years. Some School reports, a few pictures and some other things. I thought maybe you would like to have a look.” She says when she walks back out and places her box onto the table.

“Can I?” Skye asks referring to the picture box.

“Of course.” May tells her. “And thank you. We would love to.”

Skye sits cross legged on the chair as she starts to go through the pictures. “Is this what was my room?” Sky asks showing Melinda and Coulson the picture she is looking at.

“Yes, we had just finished decorating it.” Melinda tells her “There should be a picture in there somewhere of Coulson covered in paint from when he fell into the paint toft and then had a can of paint fall over him. If there’s not I have several copies, and I’ll show you one.” Melinda tells her.

“You fell in a paint toft?” Skye asks clearly amused “I’ve got to see this.”

“Thank you for that.” Coulson tells May “A suspension form?” He says confused pulling out the piece of paper “Why would you keep that?”

“I was ten and this bully was picking on the only person who was nice to me so I punched him. It was a bit of a proud moment for me.” Skye explains.

“Was it a good punch?” Melinda asks curious, though she doesn’t like the sound of “Only person who was nice to me.”

“Melinda.” Coulson says though not exactly surprised by his ex-wife’s reaction.

“Yep, I broke his nose.” Skye answers with a proud smile. “Most of the pictures are of just us.” Skye observes “Don’t either of you have any other family?” Skye asks curious as she flips through the photos.

“Not anymore.” Coulson answers “My father died when I was seven, my mother the year I entered the Academy.” Coulson explains.

“I’m sorry.” Skye tells Coulson not sure what else to say.

“I was raised by my grandparents. My parents died in a car accident when I very young, and my grandmother died when I was in high school. There should be a picture of my grandfather holding you though, he lost his battle with cancer eleven days after you were born.” May explains.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories for you.” Skye tells them both.

“It’s okay.” Coulson assures her “We want you to ask questions, we want you to get to know us better, and we want to get to know you.” He tells her.

“I want that too.” Skye admits. “Oh, is this the picture you were talking about before?” She asks pulling out a picture of Coulson covered in paint.

“That would be the one.” Melinda tells her.

“How did you even manage that?” Skye asks Coulson, clearly amused by the picture.

“I was painting your room and Melinda was downstairs.” Coulson explains “I heard Melinda yell something but I wasn’t sure exactly what she yelled so I panicked. I lost my footing and fell into the paint toft, as I did I knocked the ladder over which knocked the can of paint everywhere and all over me. I rushed downstairs only to find that Melinda’s yell was asking if I ate the bag of salt and vinegar chips. She pulled out the camera and took that photo as soon as she saw me” Coulson explains and Skye laughs at the story.

“You kept the paper work from when you first got your van?” May asks once Skye finishes laughing, as she finds that paper work in Skye’s box.

Skye nods in response “One thing you learn when you grow up in an Orphanage is that as soon as you’re eighteen you’re on your own, and if you were smart you made sure you were long before that.” Skye explains “By the time I was thirteen I could hack almost anything, I could have easily just faked everything I needed to get myself a vehicle but I didn’t want to, because whatever I brought was going to be my home and I wanted my home to actually be mine. I knew since I was fourteen that I wanted a van, I figured that that way I could travel the country and I wouldn’t need anything so when I was sixteen I dropped out of high school and got a job. For two years I saved everything I got and I was finally able to afford to get a pretty good second hand van and have a bit of money to live okay for a while. Because no one knew what my birthday was they used the date I was left at the Orphanage as my birthday so a couple of months before that date, once I was sure I had enough money, I packed up the little that I had and I left. I stayed at a few places along the way but mostly I stayed in my van” Skye explains

“Skye..” Coulson begins to say but Skye cuts him off.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything.” Skye tells him before he has a chance “Is this your grandfather you were telling me about?” Skye asks May finding a picture of an elderly, clearly sick, man holding newborn her.

“Yeah that’s him.” Melinda answers, her like Coulson hating that their daughter had things so hard growing up.  “And it’s December the first.” May reveals.

“What is?” Skye asks confused.

“Your birthday.” Coulson answers “You were born, December the first 1988 at two fifty five in the afternoon.”

“December the first.” Skye says to herself quietly for the first time in her life knowing what her birthday is. As she doesn’t want either Coulson or May to see the tear she has in her eye Skye looks down at the pictures and fights to keep it from falling.

* * *

 

For almost an hour Skye, Coulson and May look through their respective boxes. Skye questioning Melinda and Coulson about the different photo’s, Melinda and Coulson asking Skye about the different items and stories behind them, Skye gives them stories but at the same time it is very clear that she isn’t opening up completely.

“That’s a video call coming in from Headquarters.” Coulson says when all three of them hear the distinct sound of ringing throughout the plan “I’ll get it. You both stay here.” Coulson says getting up and heading into the command centre to answer the call.

“I grabbed this before Phil could see.” May says handing Skye a picture “I wasn’t sure if you were ready to talk to us about it, or if you even wanted either of us to see it.”

“I forgot that was in there.” Skye says surprised when she grabs the picture and puts it in her pocket “Thank you. You’re right. I didn’t want either of you to see it.”

“What happened?” May asks clearly concerned.

“Bad guy, teenage stupid ideals about love.” Skye explains feeling that after seeing that picture May deserves an explanation.

“Your boyfriend did that to you?” Melinda asks angry about what happened to her daughter and even angrier that she wasn’t there to protect her, but after years of hiding her emotions she doesn’t let Skye see that as she doesn’t want Skye to think that she is angry at her.

“First love actually.” Skye corrects “I was sixteen, he was nineteen. I knew he wasn’t a good guy when we started to see eachother but I never thought he would hurt me.” Skye explains “I was stupid. I should have known by then that people that you let in are what hurt you the most. That’s why I put that picture in that box, to remind me of that. I didn’t mean for you to see it.” Skye explains.

“Skye...” May begins to say but like she did with Coulson earlier Skye cuts her off.

“You don’t need to say anything, it’s okay.” Skye tells her repeating the words that she said to Coulson earlier.

“No its not.” May tells her “The day you were born I promised you that I would always be there to protect you, that you would never be hurt and I wasn’t there to keep it and I’m so sorry for that, more sorry than I can put into words. I’m your mother and I am so sorry that I failed you by letting you get taken from us, I’m sorry that you grew up the way you did, I’m sorry for all the bad things that have happened to you, and I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you since you’ve been on the bus, but being hard on them is how I’ve learnt to protect people. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with you I knew that all I wanted was for you to be happy, healthy, safe and protected but you weren’t, you never were, and that kills me. I’m guessing saying I’m sorry doesn’t mean much to you and as much as I want to, I can’t change what has happened, but I need you to know that if I could I would, and I will do my best to keep that promise now.” May tells her daughter the mask she usually has in place being completely gone, the words not easy for her to say as opening up never is, but her need for Skye to know how she’s feeling taking over everything else.

“I…” Skye begins to say a tear forming in her eye as even though she learnt a long time ago that words aren’t always the truth she is positive that May’s are, which scares her, but which also mean more than she could possibly say, so she doesn’t say anything. She stands up and walks over to May and hugs her, a hug which May returns.

After ending his call with Headquarters Coulson walks back out into the couched area to see Melinda and Skye hugging. Melinda holding their daughter for the first time in almost twenty five years. He stands and watches the pair for a minute, not wanting to interrupt the moment when it is clear that neither of them want to let go. As he watches Coulson has a sad smile on his face, more happy that he can say about having his little girl back and all three of them being together again, but hating like he has every day since it happened that their girl was taken from them in the first place.

“Phil, what is it?” Melinda asks noticing him watching them “What did Headquarters want?” Melinda asks snapping Coulson out of his thoughts.

“There’s a 0-8-4 they want us to investigate. An object was found in a dig and they want us to find out what it is.” Coulson explains.  

“Where?” Skye asks turning around to face her father, ending the hug with her mother.

“Israel.” Coulson answers “I’ve sent the exact coordinates through to you.” Coulson informs May.

“I’ll call the others back.” Skye says walking over her bunk to grab her phone but stopping at the chair she was sitting on where the box of photos are sitting “I didn’t really get too look at all the photos, do you mind if I keep them for a little while?” She asks Coulson a nervousness clear in her voice “I promise I won’t wreck them.” She adds.

“They’re yours to keep Skye.” Coulson tells her “I went through all my pictures last night and put a copy of each one in that box, I thought that maybe you would like that.” Coulson tells her.

“Thank you.” Skye says walking quickly over to Coulson and giving him a hug which unlike the one she gave him a few weeks ago he actually returns.

“You’re welcome.” Coulson says as he returns the hug, this time it being Melinda’s turn to watch with a sad smile thinking the exact same thing as Coulson was thinking only minutes earlier.

When Coulson and Skye break the hug a few minutes later Skye picks up her box of the table and heads into her bunk to call the others back to the bus while May and Coulson head into the Command Centre.

 

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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Ever since they left the bus Ward and Fitz have been questioning Simmons about what is going on and whether Skye, Coulson and May staying at the bus has anything to do with why Skye was acting the way she was the day before.

“I told you, when you need to know you will know. Stop asking.” Simmons says becoming annoyed at their questions but as she knows that they are only asking out of concern she isn’t annoyed as she could be.

“And when will that be?” Ward asks “Do you know that?” He asks.

“Not at the moment.” Simmons answers.

“Then how do you know that we will know when we need to?” Fitz asks as he puts seven different types of cereal into the cart without Ward seeing.

“Because I am sure that you will be told what is going on, I just don’t know when.” Simmons answers.

“Okay, so it affects us in some way right?” Ward realises.  

“It could.” Simmons answers as whether the fact that Skye is Coulson’s and May’s daughter will affect the team depends on May, Coulson and Skye. “But please stop asking. It is not my place to tell you.” Simmons requests, clearly pleading with them to drop it.

“Okay. We’ll leave it alone.” Ward tells the scientist.

A while later the group are at the checkout of the supermarket that they are at when Simmons phone’s ring.

“Hello.”

“Simmons its Skye, you guys need to get back here as soon as you can. We’ve got an 0-8-4 to investigate.” Skye says through the phone line.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can.” Simmons says before hanging up. “That was Skye. We’ve got to get back to the bus now.” Simmons says as Ward pays for the shopping.

“What’s going on?” Ward asks once they are out of the supermarket, have loaded all the supplies into the car and are sitting in it, once he is sure that there is no one else to hear what they are saying.

“There’s an 0-8-4 to investigate.” Simmons explains.

* * *

 

“Where in Israeli are we going?” May asks Coulson once they enter the command room.

“Just outside of Rahat.” Coulson explains.

“Not exactly the safest place.” May comments worried about the team on a mission in a very dangerous place and her daughter just being there.

“I know. Director Fury called himself to ask us to investigate this. Word of the 0-8-4 has only just got to S.H.I.E.L.D and he wants it dealt with as soon as possible. Before it gets into the wrong hands.” Coulson explains.

“What is the situation like?” May asks.

“Unclear but Director Fury warned about possible likely hostility. The Israeli government called S.H.I.E.L.D for help once they got word of it and they are currently protecting the area.” Coulson explains.

“This could turn south very quickly.” May points out.

“I know.” Coulson repeats “Which is why until you and Ward do a sweep of the area and I talk to the people there FitzSimmons and Skye are to wait in the car.” Coulson explains.

“Why not get them to stay at the plane?” May asks. “Have us bring the item to them?”

“It’s an 0-8-4 Melinda, it needs to be investigated first, decided how it can be safely transported.” Coulson reminds her. “And I’m not leaving anyone on their own until we are back in the air.” Coulson adds.  

May nods understanding why but at the same time not liking it, “What about Ward and Fitz? Do we tell them?”

“That’s up to Skye. It’s her decision.” Coulson says “But until we can determine if she is still in danger and if so how much, and until I can talk to Director Fury in person and find out just what he knows, no one else apart from those on this bus is to be told.” Coulson says.

“I agree.” May says “It’s the only way to protect her.” May says “The people who crossed of the other Agents have got to be the people who took her in the first place and they could still be after her.”

“Why would they still be after me after twenty years?’ Skye asks from the door causing both Coulson and May to turn and look at her “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“It’s alright.” Coulson tells her “We still don’t know exactly who took your, or what they did. The communication that S.H.I.E.L.D got said that they wanted to use you as a test subject and we don’t know what that means.” Coulson explains “Until we are absolutely positive that they aren’t we’ve got to assume that they are after you.” Coulson explains.

“But there is nothing strange about me. I’ve got no super cool powers. Whatever it is that they may have done to me must not have worked, right?” She asks looking between her parents.

“Maybe, or you could have an ability that you just haven’t discovered yet.” May explains “We don’t know.”

“Is there a way to find out?” Skye asks “Because if they did something to me, I want to know.”

“We can get Simmons to run some tests but whatever they did to you may not show up in any.” Coulson says.

“I need to at least try to find out, I’ll never stop wondering if I don’t.” Skye says to Coulson and May. “That’s if you guys don’t mind.” She adds quickly.

“Skye if it’s what you want then we will support you, but know that no matter what was done to you it doesn’t matter to us, it doesn’t change anything. Remember that.” Coulson says taking a couple of steps closer to her.

“I will.” Skye tells him then remembers why she came into her in the first place “Ward and FitzSimmons are on their way back, I’m going to go wait for them down stairs, give them a hand with the supplies.” Skye says leaving the command centre.

“Skye, tell them to just put the food in the kitchen, everything can be put in their actual place after the briefing.” May calls after her.

“I will.” Skye says back.

* * *

 

Not even ten minutes after Skye sat on the stairs to wait for Ward and FitzSimmons the car drives up.

“Are you our welcoming committee?” Ward asks Skye as he gets out the car.

“Nope. Just here to help, and to tell you that May said that we’re only to put the food in the kitchen, that unpacking can wait until after the briefing.” Skye explains as both her and Ward, along with FitzSimmons walk to the trunk of car.

“What do we know so far?” Ward asks Skye as between the four of them they manage to pick up all the shopping bags.

“Just that there is a 0-8-4 in Israeli and we’re going to investigate it.” Skye explains “We’ll find out the rest in Coulson’s briefing.” Skye explains as they climb the stairs up.

“Coulson didn’t tell you anymore?” Ward asks curious.

“No. Once we got the call I called you guys back and May and Coulson talked in the Command centre.” Skye explains telling the complete truth as when she started to eavesdrop on May and Coulson they were already talking about her. “0-8-4 in Israeli is all I know.” Skye says as they group puts everything down in the kitchen. “So why don’t we find out.” Skye tells him and everyone heads into the command centre.

“There is an 0-8-4 in Rahat Israeli. Director Fury wants us to go in, investigate and remove the item.” Coulson explains once everyone is in the command centre.

“Do we know anymore Sir?” Ward asks.

“We know nothing about the item except that the item is currently being protected by the Israeli’s, but Director Fury has warned that hostile engagement will be a very likely possibility.” Coulson informs Ward and at Coulson’s words everyone gets a worried look on their face “Due to this we will be going in in two teams. Agents Ward and May will do a Sweep of the area and I will speak to the Israelis who are running the protection.” Coulson explains.

“What about us?” Skye asks “FitzSimmons and I. What will we do?” She asks.

“The three of you will be with me, but until you have been given the all clear by Agent’s May, Ward and Myself none of you are to leave the car.” Coulson says speaking to Fitz, Simmons and Skye but he is looking directly at Skye “This is a dangerous situation which is why Director Fury wants it dealt with quickly. The object could be dangerous and we can’t risk it getting into the wrong hands.” Coulson says and then nods at May.

“Get the supplies bunkered down. Wheels up in ten.” May says and heads to the Cockpit while Ward and FitzSimmons head to the kitchen.

“This is going to be more dangerous than anything we’ve done isn’t it?” Skye asks Coulson after the others leave.

“Possibly, which is why you and FitzSimmons are going to wait in the car until we’ve cleared the area. None of you are cleared for combat and I am not going to put any of you in more danger that you’ll already be in.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“But you will be.” Skye realise “You and May, and Ward, you will all be in danger.” She realises.  

“It’s our job Skye, it’s what all three of us were trained to do.” Coulson reminds her.

“I know, it’s just...” Skye stars to say but then trails off.

“Just what?” Coulson asks when about a minute later Skye hasn’t said anymore.

“Nothing, I better go help the others with the shopping.” Skye says quickly leaving the room deciding against saying what she was going to say.

* * *

 

As Skye walks towards the kitchen she sees Fitz and Ward having what is clearly argument, though a friendly brotherly one, and Jemma watching them.

“What are they fighting over?” Skye asks Simmons as she walks over and stands next to her.

“Things that Fitz put into the shopping cart without Ward realising.” Simmons explains.

“Oh, did he get more cereal?” Skye asks curious.

“Seven different types, hence the fight.” Simmons tells her “What you asked me to get for you are in your bunk.” She adds.  

“Thanks.” Skye tells her.

“So, how did it go?” Simmons asks eagerly, Fitz and Ward being too focused on their argument to pay attention to what they are talking about.

“Good, it was good.” Skye tells her a smile on her face “It’s still odd and I don’t know how to act around them, but I realised they don’t know how to act around me now as well.” Skye explains “I found out what my birthday is.” Skye says clearly exited “I know it an odd thing to be excited about but I’ve never known what my birthday is before, my name either and now I know both.”

“You’ve never known what your birthday is?” Simmons asks surprised.

“No.”

“Then when did you celebrate?” Simmons asks confused.

“I didn’t, not really.” Skye answers truthfully “Whenever I had to put my birthdate down on a form or something the date I was left at the orphanage was just used.” Skye explains

“That’s so sad.” Simmons tells her.

“It’s okay, really. I got used to it.” Skye tells her shrugging.

“What else happened?” Simmons asks feeling that maybe a slight change of the subject would be for the best “What else did you talk about.”

“All different thing.” Skye tells Jemma “They told me stories and I told them some. I saw pictures of my room, or what was my room.” She corrects “We had a good talk, all of us, we got to know eachother a bit; it was nice.” Skye says remembering what she felt when they talked “It’s odd and going to take a while to get used to but I think all three of us want this to work.” She tells Simmons “Maybe even one day we could be a real family.” Skye says in a quiet voice barely loud enough for Simmons to hear.

“I’m sure you will be, you’ve just got to give it a chance” Simmons tells her.

“I am.” Skye tells her friend “and that terrifies me.” She admits “May and Coulson are my parents, and I actually want to let them in, I want them to be parents to me.” She reveals.  

“What?” Ward asks “May and Coulson are your what?” he asks at the same time that Fitz says “Be kind rewind.”

“Wheels up in two, everyone buckle in.” May’s voice says through the plane’s communication system before Skye has a chance to say something.

As soon as Skye, Simmons, Fitz and Ward are sitting and buckled Fitz turns to Skye “How are May and Coulson you parents?” he asks.

“If you don’t know how a baby is made by now then I don’t think I should be the one who tells you Fritz.” Skye jokes causing both Simmons and Ward to laugh.

“You’re hilarious, but I didn’t mean it like that.” Fitz tells her “I mean, how not how when, not when.. I mean…” Fitz says as he begins to stutter trying to get the correct words.

“He means how did you find out?” Ward says taking pity on the younger agent “And have May and Coulson known that you are their daughter since you’ve been on the bus? And why didn’t they raise you?” Ward asks completely shocked at the newest revelation, not even being able to comprehend how shocking it must be for Skye.

“All three of us only found out yesterday.” Skye tells them, as soon as she does Fitz and Ward now understand Skye’s, Coulson’s and May’s behaviour the day before and Ward can’t help but feel bad about how he acted, “I was kidnapped when I was three months old. May and Coulson were drugged one night and when they woke up I was gone.” She explains “They have spent almost twenty five years trying to find me, but they couldn’t.” Skye explains “A few days ago they followed a lead about my past. They talked to someone who knew the S.H.I.E.L.D Agent who left me at the Orphanage where I was raised. “Skye explains and Ward interrupts.

“Is that the Agent whose name you looked at on the wall at the Academy?” Ward asks curious.

“Yeah.” Skye answers “After the Agent told Coulson my story I guess he had a feeling or a suspicion. I’m not sure which, that I was his daughter; So without me or May knowing he collected a sample of both our DNA and got Simmons to test them against eachother. Once Simmons got the results back saying I was their daughter he told May, then he told me. That’s why he wanted to see me in his office yesterday” Skye explains.

“So agent Coulson and Agent May are together?” Fitz asks still trying to wrap his head around the idea.

“Not anymore.” Skye answers “They divorced sometime after I was taken. I’m not sure exactly when.”

“You can unbuckle now. In two hours we’ll be arriving in Israeli.” May says over the intercom.

“Coulson gave me a box of pictures this morning, I’m going to go look at them until we get to Israeli.” Skye says getting up and going to her bunk.

“You knew all of this since yesterday.” Fitz says to Simmons surprised “Did you know before Skye?” He asks.

“No.” Simmons answers “Coulson didn’t tell me who the samples he had me test belonged to. I didn’t find out until Skye told me.” She explains.

“It’s got to be a shock. Finding out that you have been living with your parents for months without even knowing it.” Fitz comments concerned about how Skye must be dealing with the news.

“It has got to be a shock for Coulson and May as well. For what? Almost twenty five years they have been looking for their daughter and now they have finally found her.” Ward points out.

“Do you think we should do something?” Fitz asks the other two.

“I don’t know if there is anything we can do. I think that all we can do is be there for them.” Simmons answers.

Ward nods. “That’s good advice.” He says getting up and walking over to Skye’s bunk where he knocks on the door.

“Yeah?” Skye asks.

“Hey.” Ward says opening the door. “So these are the pictures that Coulson gave you?” He asks seeing that Skye has a box of pictures open next to her.

“Yeah, it’s wired, I look at these and I see the life I should have had.” Skye admits “Knowing that I was stolen from my parents is different than thinking I was abandoned by them.” She reveals. “I know now that I should have had parents who looked after me, who loved me, that I should of had an actual house, had Coulson to teach me to throw a baseball, and May to teach me to throw a punch. I missed so much. I’ve never let myself think about just how much I have missed out on, but now I can’t stop.” Skye admits.

“You missed having all that as a kid but you haven’t missed it all together.” Ward says sitting down next to Skye. “If you wanted I’m sure that Coulson would teach you how to throw a baseball and May would definitely be willing to teach you to throw a punch.” Ward tells her “You’ve just got to give them a chance.” He tells her.

“Did your Dad teach you to throw a baseball?” Skye asks curious.

“No.” Ward answers “But I taught my little brother.” He adds.

“Really?” Skye asks surprised and Ward nods in response.

“How did I not notice that before?” Skye says realising something as she looks at a photo that she didn’t notice earlier.

“Notice what?” Ward asks confused,

“That’s so cool.” Skye says “I’ll be right back.” She says picking up the box of photos and running out of her room and up the stairs to Coulson’s office.

“What’s so cool?” Ward asks after her but he receives no answer in response.

* * *

 

As Skye runs up the stairs to Coulson’s office she is sure that at one point she almost tripped but she doesn’t care as she wants to ask Coulson about what she noticed “I had a S.H.I.E.L.D blanket with my name on it?” Skye asks excitedly as she runs into Coulson’s office without knocking.

“Yes, it was a gift from Director Fury himself.” Coulson answers.

“That’s so cool.” Skye says.

“Guess it is.” Coulson says after a small laugh. “It’s still in your room at the house if you would like it.” He reveals.

“Really?” Skye asks excitedly and Coulson nods. “I thought you said that you both moved out of the house after I was taken, that you couldn’t bear to be there anymore?” Skye asks remembering what he said the day before.

“We couldn’t, but if you would like to see it we can take you there.” Coulson tells her.

“Really?” Skye asks “It wouldn’t be too painful for you?” she asks worried.

“If you want to go we can.” Coulson tells her “It always hurts when I go back there.” Coulson says as more than once he has gone back just for about an hour at a time to just stand in his daughters room “because I remember the night you were taken but having you there to see it is worth any amount of pain.”

“Are you sure?” Skye asks hesitantly. 

“Positive.” Coulson tells her.

“Do you mind if I sit up here and look at the pictures?” She asks curious.

“Not at all.” Coulson tells Skye who sits down on the couch.

* * *

 

Almost two hours later May’s voice travels through the cockpit announcing that they will be landing shorty so they are all to buckle up.

“I’m going to go put these back in my bunk.” Skye says to Coulson who came over and sat next to her on the couch so that he could tell Skye more stories.

“I’ll see you downstairs.” Coulson says with a nod.

“Oh.” Skye says pausing at the door into Coulson’s office “I told Ward and Fitz. I overheard you and May saying that it was up to me when they were told and I told them, well technically they overheard Simmons and I talking and I explained, but same difference. The point is they know. Hope that’s okay.” Skye tells him.

“It’s fine.” Coulson tells Skye who nods and leaves the office in response.

* * *

 

Twenty minutes later everyone is down in the cargo bay. “How far away from the location are we?” Coulson asks May.

“About two miles.” She informs him “There is a second car standing by, Ward and I will take that the rest of you will take the S.H.E.L.D car.” She says and Coulson nods.

“We’ll see you at the location.” Coulson tells May and Ward who nod and leave.

“Let’s go.” Coulson says to Skye, and FitzSimmons as he walks over to the driver’s side of the car, Skye gets in the passenger seat and FitzSimmons get in the back.

* * *

 

Ten minutes later they arrive at the location. When they do Coulson parks the car in one of the few places where there is cover which is about twenty five meters back from where there are at least a dozen soldiers clearly guarding what looks like a cave.

“Remember stay in the car until you get the all clear from Me, May and Ward.” He tells trio.

“Yes sir.” FitzSimmons both reply.

“Skye?” he asks looking directly at his daughter.

“I will, just be careful, alright.” Skye tells him.

Coulson nods and exits the car. Not even a minute after Coulson leaves the car just as he begins to talk to a group of soldiers there is an explosion that seems as if it is came from the cave itself, Coulson and all the soldiers are thrown back and the only thing that can be heard is Skye’s terrified yell of “COULSON.”

 

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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 

* * *

 

Before either Fitz or Simmons can react Skye has opened her door and has run out. Seconds after she does Simmons does the same and Fitz follows them both not long after.

When Skye reaches Coulson she finds him unconscious with what looks like a bit of rock that has acted like shrapnel sticking out of the side of his stomach, a cut to the back of his head and several little scraps all over him.

“No, come on, wake up.” Skye tells him tears coming to her eyes “Come on wake up, please.” Skye says shaking his shoulders.

“Skye move.” Simmons voice tells her “Let me look at him.” She requests kneeling on the opposite side of him but as Skye is covering his body with hers she can’t look at his injuries. “Skye, I can’t help him if I can’t look at his injuries.” Jemma tells her.

“Skye, just stand back a little, let Jemma do her thing.” Fitz says kneeling next to Skye, putting his arms around her and pulling her up so that Jemma can have a look.

“I just… I can’t.” Skye says not being able to get many words out between her tears.

“I know.” Fitz tells her just holding, knowing that it is up to Jemma, that there is nothing he can do.

“Skye, give me your shirt.” Simmons tells Skye as like she tends to do Skye is wearing a flannel shirt over a tank top and she needs the flannel shirt to slow the bleeding until she can get Coulson back to the plane.

“What?” Skye asks confused.

“I need your shirt to slow the bleeding, quickly.” Simmons instructs.

“Right.” Skye says removing her top and handing it to Simmons, it vaguely registers with her that there is someone talking in her ear and that Fitz is talking to someone but she can’t make out a single word that is being said, all she can do is stare at Coulson. “How bad is it?” She asks Simmons.

“We need to get him back to the bus as quickly as possible, I can’t do much for him now but I can there.” Simmons says to Skye. “The three of us need to carry him to the car.” Simmons tells Skye. “May and Ward are closer to the bus than here, it would take them to long to get here. We’ve got to get there.” She explains.

“Okay, what do we do?” Skye asks, pulling herself together as she realises now isn’t the time to fall apart, Coulson, her father who she hasn’t even had a chance to get to know yet, needs her to be strong.

“You carry him by his shoulders, Fitz you take his legs, while I continue to hold pressure.” Simmons explains “It’s very important that we work as a team.” Simmons says.

“Okay, on the count of three we stand.” Simmons says once Skye is at Coulson’s head and Fitz is at his feet. “1, 2, 3,” Simmons says and in perfect unison the three lift Coulson.

Together Skye and Fitz manage to carry Coulson to the Car, Simmons holding pressure as they do.

“What do we do now?’ Skye asks when they get to the car.

“We’ve got to put him in the boot.” Simons explains “He can be laid down there.” Simmons explains “This has to be done very quickly and carefully. I am going to let go of the pressure for a few seconds so that I can open the boot and climb in the back. As soon as I’m in Skye I will help you to get him into the boot and once he is in Fitz you’ve got to shut the boot and drive us out of here.” Simmons says and both Fitz and Skye nod in response “Okay, now.” Simmons says and quickly without incident the three manage to do exactly what Simmons instructed them to do.

“How bad is it?” Skye asks sitting next to Coulson holding his hand as Simmons continues to hold pressure.

“Thankfully the piece of rock seems to be doing a good job at restricting blood loss but it will eventually have to be removed and there is no way to know just how much damage has been done until I can have an actual look.” Simmons explains.

“Why isn’t he awake?” Skye asks looking at her father’s face concerned.

“He knocked his head when he fell due to the force of the blast.” Simmons explains “Which under the circumstances is completely normal. I will check the wound when we are back at the plane just to make sure but I don’t think it is anything to worry about.” Simmons assures her.

“Jemma, is he going to be okay?” Skye asks looking away from her father to look at her friend, the person she has begun to see as a sister, directly.

“His recovery is dependent on a lot of factors…” Simmons begins to say but Skye cuts her off. “Please Jemma don’t talk Science to me, just tell me, will he be okay?” Skye repeats.

“I don’t know until I discover how much damage has been done.” Simmons answers. “But I know we need to get him back to the plane.” Simmons admits, “I will do everything I can Skye, I promise you that.”

“Fitz can you make this thing go any faster?” Skye asks.

“I’m going as fast as I can.” Fitz tells her “We are almost back at the plane.” He adds.

“Hold on please, just for me, hold on, please don’t die.” Skye whispers into Coulson’s ear.

“We’re back.” Fitz says and just a as he does the boot opens and May and Ward are standing there both looking extremely worried “You two grab his head, May and I will grab his legs.” Ward instructs.  

“I’m going to need some help getting that rock out and repairing the damage.” Simmons says as she, May, Ward and Skye get Coulson out of the car.

“I’ll help.” Ward says “I have experience patching up shrapnel wounds.” He reveals.

“I want to stay with him.” Skye tells Simmons and Ward.

“I’m sorry Skye, but you can’t.” Simmons tells her friend “Not while we operate.” Skye says as they enter the lab and place Coulson down on the table.

“But..” Skye begins to say but she is cut off by May walking over to her and putting her arm around her shoulder “Skye, we’ve got to let Ward and Simmons help him, they can’t do that with us in here with them.” May tells her daughter. “Come on.” May says slowly leading Skye out of the lab to behind the glass door where Fitz is already standing, Skye not looking away from Coulson once as she does.

Once they are outside the lab without a single word Skye turns into the mother’s chest and once more begins to cry. May doesn’t say anything because she doesn’t know what to say, she can’t tell Skye that Coulson will be okay because she doesn’t know that, not having any words that will comfort Skye May just puts both her arms around her and holds her close, fighting not to let her own tears fall as she looks and sees Coulson being operated on by Simmons and Ward.

* * *

 

For over an hour Simmons and Ward work on Coulson to repair the damage that the rock did “What is it?” Ward asks concerned as he notices that look Simmons has on her face as she starts to stich the skin.

“I’ve fixed the damage that the rock did and he’s stable but unless he gets a blood donation and very soon he won’t stay that way for very long. He’s lost a lot of blood and I don’t know his blood type.” Simmons explains.

“May will know, right?” Ward asks “They were married, and they have worked together for a very long time, she is bound to know, right?” He realises. “And Skye, she’s his daughter, isn’t it likely that she will have the same blood type as him?” He asks.

“It’s possible.” Simmons tells him “I need you to go find out. We need to get blood into him as soon as possible.”

Ward nods, and removes his gloves, mask and washes his hand before going out into the cargo bay where Skye, May and Fitz are eagerly waiting news.

“Is he okay?” Skye asks as soon as she sees Ward.

“Simmons says he’s stable, but he won’t stay that way if he doesn’t get some blood. She doesn’t know his blood type, do you?” Ward asks May, who is standing right next to Skye.

“A positive” May answers.

“Is anyone here A positive?” Ward asks as he knows that he isn’t, Fitz and May both shake their heads no as Skye says “I don’t know.”

“You are.” May tells her.

“Okay then what do I do?” Skye asks, not even having to think about it.

“Come with me, I’ll do it.” May says leading Skye into the lab.

“Are one of you the same blood type as Agent Coulson?” Simmons asks as May and Skye walk in and she finishes placing the dressing over Coulson’s wound.

“Skye is.” May answers “How is he?” May asks as Skye just stares at Coulson.

“He’s stable, we were able to repair the damage that was done very simply but he has lost quite a lot of blood which is why he needs the transfusion.” Simmons explains.

“And the head wound?” May asks.

“Superficial.” Simmons answers. “He’s also got a few cuts a bruises all of which are very minor and don’t require further treatment.” She adds.

May nods and sits Sky down in a chair close to Coulson as Simmons walks over to the mother and daughter with a blood drawing kit “I’ll do it.” May says taking the kit off the scientist who nods in response and grabs another kit to connect to Coulson so that he can receive the blood that Skye is giving him.

“Have you done this before?” Skye asks May curious.

“Multiple times.” May answers. “Have you ever had blood taken before?” she asks.  

“No.” Skye answers and it is clear that she is nervous.

“Well it’s quite simple. All I do is tie this around the top of your arm.” May explains picking up the tourniquet “It makes the veins in your arms stick out and when I find one I stick the needle into it. It’s as simple as that.”

“Does it hurt?” Skye asks.

“Only for a few seconds.” May answers as she ties the tourniquet around the top of Skye’s arm. “There, that’s what I’m looking for.” Melinda says pointing to the vain that is clearly visible in Skye’s arm while she prepares the needle.

“Skye look at me don’t look at your arm.” May says as it becomes very clear that Skye is scared of the needle. Skye does what her mother said but she still looks scared “Lean forward.” She instructs as she wants to tell Skye something that may help her but she doesn’t think it would be the best idea for Ward and Simmons to hear. “Your Dad isn’t the biggest fan of needle’s either.” May tells her daughter, only loud enough so that she can hear.

“Really?” Skye asks amused.

“Really.” May confirms as she sticks the needle into Skye’s arm. Skye being so amused by what May told her that she barely feels it.

“See that wasn’t so bad.” May says sticking down the needle and connecting the tubing up together.

“Guess not.” Skye admits.  

“Now don’t move your arm until you’re disconnected.” May instructs and Skye nods.

“When will he wake up?” Skye asks Simmons.

“He is still currently under sedation and that could take anywhere between six hours and twenty four to where off.” Simmons answers.

“And if he doesn’t? What does that mean?” Skye asks concerned.

“If he doesn’t wake then we will deal with that if and when it becomes an issue.” Simmons informs Skye.

“Um, Agent May, Director Fury’s on the line. He wants to know what is going on.” Fitz says walking into the lab.

“I can talk to him if you want.” Ward offers.

“No, I’ll do it.” May tells him “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” May tells Skye.

“Make sure she doesn’t give him too much.” Mays says quietly to Simmons before leaving.

* * *

 

“Agent May, what is going on. Where is Coulson?” Director Fury asks as soon as May walks into the command centre and he sees May though the video feed.

“There was an explosion at the 0-8-4 location Sir, Agent Coulson has been wounded.” May informs her boss.

“How badly?”

“A piece of rock was lodged into the side of his stomach and he received a superficial wound to his head, along with some cuts and bruises.” May explains “Simmons with the assistance of Agent Ward removed the rock and repaired the damage. According to Simmons he is stable and is likely to wake within the next twenty four hours.”

“Where any of your other people hurt?” Fury asks.

“No Sir.”

“Status of the 0-8-4?” Fury asks.

“Unclear.” Melinda answers “The explosion occurred just as Agent Coulson was making contact with the Israelis.”

“I want the status of the 0-8-4 to be established and updates every three hours. Once it is determined whether the 0-8-4 was destroyed, and contained if it wasn’t you and your team are to head to the S.H.I.E.L.D base in England.” Fury orders.

“Yes Sir.” May tells him as Fury ends the video conference.

Exiting the Command Centre May sees Ward walking towards her “What are our orders?” He asks curious.

“Determine the status of the 0-8-4 and once that is done go to the S.H.E.L.D base in England.” May explains.

“FitzSimmons and I can do that while you and Skye stay with Coulson.” Ward offers knowing that it would be best for everyone if it is done like that.

Melinda nods “Contact the Israeli government before you do anything. Find out if they have classified the location as safe, don’t do anything until they have.” May instructs Ward who nods as they walk down the stairs into the lower level.

As they enter the lab once more May’s eyes are drawn to her daughter. She is no longer connected to tubes giving Coulson blood but she does have an untouched glass of orange juice next to her.

When they see her enter FitzSimmons walk right over to May both of them looking concerned.

“What’s wrong?” She asks the pair.

“It’s Skye.” Simmons answers “She hasn’t said anything since you left and she hasn’t had a drink of the orange juice, she didn’t even react when I told her she needs to drink it.” Simmons explains.

“All she has been doing is staring at Agent Coulson.” Fitz adds.

“Give us the room.” May requests looking at her daughter.

“Of course.” Simmons says “I can monitor Agent Coulson on this.” Simmons says referring to her tablet.

“Is there any change?” May asks making it clear that she is referring to Coulson and not Skye.

“He is doing a little better after the transfusion but there is no other change.” Simmons says and May nods. “Agent Ward will fill you in our latest orders.” May tells FitzSimmons as she pulls a chair over so that she is sitting next to Skye.

“Simmons said that he is doing better, the blood you gave him is helping.” Melinda tells her daughter a couple of minutes after she sits down, May gives Skye a couple of minutes to respond but when she doesn’t she tries something else “It’s really important that you drink the orange juice Skye, you need to get your blood sugar up again.” May tells her.

Skye doesn’t respond to what May said but after a couple of minutes she does says “I’ve just found you guys, I don’t want to lose you now.” Skye admits quietly “He’s already died once, what if he doesn’t come back next time?” Skye asks her mother, her voice barely above a whisper.  

“I worry about that every day.” May tells her daughter admitting something that she barely admits to herself, something she would never admit to Coulson.

“You do?” Skye asks surprised then realises something “Oh god. After the Battle of New York were you told that he was dead?” She asks not being able to imagine what Melinda went through if she was told that.

“There were rumours around S.H.I.E.L.D about an Agent who died before the battle, an Agent who knew the Avengers and whose death brought them together.” May explains “I knew it was Phil, but at the same time I refused to believe it.” Melinda explains.

“So you didn’t know what happened at all? No one told you?” Skye asks surprised as she would have thought that someone would have thought to tell Coulson’s ex-wife what happened to him.

“A few days later Director Fury came to see me.” May explains as she does she realise that he must have waiting until he had brought Phil back to life or was in the process of doing it when he came to see her “He told me that Phil was badly hurt in the battle and that his heart stopped beating for a few seconds. He said that he was revived but the Avengers weren’t told that and no one below level seven were going to be. I asked if I could see him and Director Fury told me that he had been sent to Tahiti and that it was his physician’s recommendation that he not be contacted until he was doing better.” Melinda explains.

“When did you finally get to see him?” Skye asks curious.

“The night before he started back at work.” May answers “Not long before we came to LA.”

Skye doesn’t say anything else, but to Melinda’s relief she does pick up the glass of Orange juice and have a drink.

* * *

 

While Melinda and Skye are down in the Lab, FitzSimmons and Ward are up in the common area. Even though they are meant to be talking about the job they are actually taking about the newly discovered family down in the lab.

“Do you think Skye’s going to be okay?” Fitz asks the others.

“Skye’s tough, she’ll be okay.” Ward tells him.

“She won’t be until Coulson’s is.” Simmons informs Ward, positive about that after the talks she has had with Sky during the last couple of days “She just found out that he is her father, she having enough of a hard time dealing with that, but now, adding the fact that he is hurt and almost died isn’t going to make dealing with everything any easier.” Simmons explains concerned about her friend and worried about the possibility that Skye could have another panic attack at some point, but one worse than the ones that she has had.

“What about Agent May?” Fitz says causing both Simmons and Ward to look at him “She looked scared when she saw Coulson, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Agent May look scared. No matter what may have happened between them in their past I think there is still something there.” Fitz says.

Ward can’t help but agree with Fitz words. He was with May when the explosion occurred and when they were both told by Fitz through the coms that Coulson was hurt, he saw May’s reaction with his own eyes.

“We should do something to help them.” Fitz says tearing Ward away from his thoughts.

“The best thing we can do to help them is do our jobs.” Ward tells the two scientists “Coulson’s down, Skye’s down and Agent May has more than enough to deal with. They need us to step up.” Ward tells the pair “Director Fury wants the status of the 0-8-4 determined so that’s what we can do to help.” He tells them. Even though he understands the sentiment behind wanting to help he also knows that for now at least there isn’t much they can do. “That’s what they need to us to do.” He adds and both Fitz and Simmons nod.

* * *

 

Ever since the conversation about how May found out about Coulson’s death in the Battle of New York both Skye and May have been silent. The only sounds that are heard is that of the machines’ monitoring Coulson and that of their breathing.

Every half an hour Simmons checks on Coulson and gives Skye and Melinda the same report, that he is stable. Simmons reports and Ward coming in to inform them that Director Fury or Agent Hill have called for an update, and him giving his own, are the only times that there is any talking as neither Melinda nor Skye feel much like talking, both of them are just sitting watching Coulson.

When it gets near Dinner time Fitz brings both Skye and Melinda something to eat, which neither of them eat a whole lot of.

As it gets later it becomes clear that Skye is getting quite tired, though it is also clear that she is trying to hide it.

“Why don’t you go get some sleep, I’ll wake you if there is any change.” May suggests.

“No, I’m not leaving.” Skye tells May.

“Skye…” Melinda begins to say but Skye cuts her off “I’m not leaving him.” Skye tells her mother “I won’t.” She adds she says her tone of voice and expression showing just how serious she is.

“Okay.” Melinda tells her knowing that she has shown in the past to be just as stubborn as both her parents which means there is no point in arguing with her, “Then how about you try and get a little bit of sleep right here.” May suggests, “I’ll wake you the second he shows any sign of waking up.”

“Maybe.” Skye says still looking hesitant.

“I promise you Skye, the second he shows any sign of waking I will wake you up.” May tells her daughter.

Despite May’s promise Skye still looks hesitant, something that May completely understands so she doesn’t say anymore on the subject for a little while.

“Can you…?” Skye begins to ask hesitantly more than ten minutes later, but she trails off at the end, losing her confidence.

“Can I what?” May asks gently “Skye, its okay. You can ask whatever you want.” May tells her daughter when she didn’t respond to her previous question.

“Can you hold me while I sleep?” Skye asks barely able to get the words out.

 “If you would like.” May says and Skye gives an almost unnoticeable nod.

Realising how big of a step this is for Skye to even ask May slowly stands up and pulls her chair a little closer to Skye, not wanting to push Skye in case she decides that it’s not what she wants anymore, that she’s not ready. Once the chairs are close enough May sits back down and after an about a minute Skye hesitantly leans into her mother’s chest and May puts her arms around her.

After a little while once Skye is sure that she is comfortable she closes her eyes and accepts the comfort that her mother is giving her, realising that for the first time in her life that she is feeling her mother’s love and comfort.  

As Skye sleeps May just holds her daughter. As she watches Coulson and the gentle rise and fall of his chest May is positive that she never wants to let her daughter out of her arms again. 

 

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	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Many hours later at about seven am the next morning, Skye is still asleep and May is still holding her daughter and watching Coulson, brushing Skye’s hair with her fingers as she does. It due to her watching Coulson so intensity that May is spots the second his eyes start to flicker and his finger twitch.

“Phil?” May asks and then remembers her promise “Skye, wake up.” May says using one of the arms she has around Skye to gently shake her awake.

“I’m sleeping. Leave me alone.” Skye says but doesn’t open her eyes.

“Skye, he’s waking up.” May tells her.

“Huh? What?” Skye asks still clearly half asleep.

“Coulson’s waking up.” May tells her and Skye being more awake now actually registers what she was told and she quickly sits up properly, having moved at one point during the night so that she was laying on May’s lap instead of being just in her arms.

“Coulson?” Skye asks rushing up so that she is standing right next to his bedside, May doing the exact same.

“Phil, can you hear me?” May asks, but she receives no answer though Coulson’s eyes do flicker open and close “Press the green button on the monitor.” May tell Skye.

“Why?” Skye asks looking at May.

“It will let Simmons know that he is waking.” May tells her.

Skye quickly presses the button then grabs one of Coulson’s hand in both of hers “AC, can you hear me?” Skye asks.

“Skye.” Coulson’s voice says with difficulty, it barely above a whispers.

“Yeah, it’s me, I’m here,” Skye tells Coulson relief clear in her voice, “We’re here.” She adds.  “Melinda?” He asks. 

“She’s here too.” Skye answers “We both are.”

“Hi.” Coulson says opening his eyes fully and looking up at his daughter.

“Hi.” Skye says back a tear coming to her eye as she is so glad that he is awake.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Coulson tells her noticing the tear and not wanting to see her cry.  

“Don’t even scare me like that again.” Skye says letting go of his hand and throwing her arms around him which causes him to winch in pain.

“Sorry.” Skye says quickly “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Skye tells him as she moves her arms from around him.

“It’s okay.” Coulson assures her “What happened?” he asks looking at May.

“An explosion.” May answers.

“Was anyone else hurt?” He asks.

“None of our people.” May answers “But two of the Israeli soldiers were killed, another six were injured.” May explains remembering what Ward said in one of his updates during the night as Simmons walks in.

“Sir, good to see you awake.” Simmons says to Coulson “Can you give as a couple of minutes of privacy.” Simmons says to May and Skye.

“Of course.” May responds. “Skye.” May says when she has made no effort to move.

“We’ll be right back.” Skye says as she reluctantly lets go of Coulson’s hand and follows her mother out of the Lab looking back at Coulson the entire time she does.

“Are you in any pain Sir?” Simmons asks.

“Nothing I can’t hadle. How bad is it?” Coulson answers.

“You have a few minor cuts and bruises the most serious injury was a piece of rock piercing the left side of your stomach that had to be removed and repaired surgically, that also caused a large amount of blood loss.” Simmons explains.

“How long have I been out?” Coulson asks.

“I finished removing the rock with Agent Ward’s help at three o’clock yesterday afternoon, it’s now seven am.” Simmons answers “Now all your vitals are good, I’ve just got to check to see how your wound is healing.” Simmons says placing her tablet down.

“Did Skye stay here all night?” Coulson asks as Simmons removes the dressing and starts to inspect the wound.

“Good that’s healing nicely, slightly quicker than what I would expect, but that is good, and there is no sign of infection.” Simmons tells him “And yes she did. She hasn’t left your side since I let her back in the lab after your surgery.” Simmons explains answering his question.

“How long do I have to stay down here?” Coulson asks, as he does he makes an internal note to talk to Melinda about how Skye’s doing.

“You need to be on bed rest for at least a week, possibly only five or six days if you continue to heal like you are.” Simmons informs Coulson “Then moderate exercise. No field work for at the very least a month.” Simmons tells the agent.

“A MONTH?” Coulson yells angrily “I AM NOT SITTING AROUND DOING NOTHING FOR A MONTH.” Coulson yells angrily.

“Do not yell at her.” May says walking back into the room Skye nowhere to be seen as she quickly ran up to the bathroom why Simmons was checking Coulson, “Have you gotten everything you need?” May asks Simmons who nods “Go.” She tells her and Simmons hurries out of the room.

“Don’t start. I know.” Coulson tells May.

“Do you really?” May asks “In the last year you have died, come back to life, been kidnapped and almost died again. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to have a little bit of rest.” May tells him.

“You wouldn’t be saying that if it was the other way around.” Coulson reminds her.

“Probably not.” May admits “But I’m asking you to Phil, not as your second in command or a fellow agent, but as someone who cares about you and who sat by your bedside all night making sure you were still breathing. I’m asking that you listen to Simmons and take the time that your body needs to heal itself, please Phil.” May requests looking directly at Coulson actually showing him how much him being hurt has affected her, something that she hasn’t allowed to happen in a while.

“Melinda...” Coulson begins to say but before he can say anymore Skye comes in.

“So, what did Simmons say?” Skye asks as she does “I’m interrupting something aren’t I?” She asks as she senses the odd vibe in the room and notices the way May and Coulson are looking at each other.

“No.” Both May and Coulson say quickly.

“You sure? Because it definitely seems like it.” Skye says looking between May and Coulson, wondering what exactly she walked in on.

Before either Coulson or May can say anything Ward’s voice can be heard through the planes coms systems “Director Fury’s on the line Agent May, he’s requesting to speak with you.” He informs her.

“I’ll be right up.” May says before finally looking away from Coulson and leaving the room.

“What was that about?” Skye asks Coulson once May has left the room.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Coulson tells her.

“You sure?” Skye asks concerned.

“I’m sure.” Coulson assures “Are you okay?” he asks worried.

“Me? I’m fine. I wasn’t the one who had a rock sticking out of my stomach and who nearly died of blood loss.”  Skye reminds him not looking directly at him.

“Hey, I’m sorry about that.” Coulson says reaching out and grabbing Skye’s hand “I was hoping you wouldn’t have to see something like that again.” He says as he remembers the state he was in when she found him after what The Clairvoyant ordered to happen, even before he knew she was his daughter he never wanted her to have to see him hurt like that again.  

“It’s okay.” Skye assures “I know you didn’t plan on almost getting blown up, but just don’t put me through that again, alright? Because if you do I will have to get May to teach me how to kick your ass.” Skye says, using a joke to hide how worried she is and how much seeing him hurt did affect her.

“I can’t promise I’ll never be hurt again Skye.” Coulson tells her.

“I know.” Skye says still not looking directly at him.

“Look at me.” Coulson requests and Skye reluctantly does that.

“I know it must have been frightening to see me like that…” Coulson begins to say and Skye cuts him off.

“You wouldn’t wake up.” Skye tells him “After the explosion you weren’t even moving, I tried to get you to wake but you wouldn’t. FitzSimmons and I had to carry you to the car. I thought I had lost you before I had gotten to know you.” She explains looking away from him once more.

“Skye…” Coulson begins to say but Skye cuts him off.

“I know the job is dangerous and I know you can’t promise me you won’t get hurt again and I would never ask you to coz in my experience promises get broken, but can you at least try to be a bit more careful? I hate seeing you get hurt.” Skye tells him finally looking at him.

“I’ll try.” Coulson tells her becoming determine to show her that not all promises are broken.

“Can I hug you or will it hurt too much?” Skye asks nervously.

“I think I can handle it.” Coulson tells her.

Skye smiles and gently gives puts her arms around Coulson.

* * *

 

 “Director Fury.” May greats when she arrives at the Command Centre.

“Agent May, I understand Coulson is awake.” He says to her.

“That’s correct Sir, he woke not too long ago.” May tells him.

“And how is he?”

“He’s doing well. He isn’t too happy about having to sit out field work for a while but I was expecting that.” May admits.

“Yes, so was I.” Fury responds “What about the investigation? How’s that going? What’s the status of the 0-8-4?” He asks.

“I was just about to get an update on that myself from Agent Ward.” May informs the director.

“Very well, Agent Ward, what is the latest?” Fury asks looking at the other agent in the room.

“I got off the phone with the Israelis about an hour ago Sir, the sight has been declared safe. There were not more explosives in the area.” Ward reveals.

“And the explosion, what details are known?” Fury asks.

“It was deliberate Sir.” Ward revels “It was discovered that word spread among the local communities of the 0-8-4 and there were those who weren’t happy with an Alien item so close to their home so they destroyed it. Destruction was the point Sir, not death.” Ward explains.

“And the 0-8-4? Was it destroyed?” Fury asks.

“Unclear, I will be heading back to the site later today with FItzSimmons to investigate.” Ward reveals.

“Good. After you have determined the status of the 0-8-4, I want you to head to England as soon as possible.” Fury orders.

“Yes Sir.” Both May and Ward say

“Now Agent Ward if you would excuse us I would like a private word with Agent May.” Fury tells the level seven agent.

“Yes Sir.” Ward says before leaving the room.

* * *

 

Ward waits outside the room for several minutes, wondering what The Director is saying to Agent May. He can see Melinda through the glass but as its Melinda she is giving nothing away about what is being said.  About five minutes after he was asked to leave the room May exits it.

“You and FitzSImmons are to go to the site as soon as possible. I will stay here running back end.” May tells Ward.

“Okay. Do want to tell me what Fury wanted to talk to you about?” he asks curious.

“No.” May says as the pair walk down the stairs.

When May and Ward arrive down at the lab they see Skye hugging Coulson. As neither of them want to interrupt they both stand outside.

“You still love him don’t you?” Ward asks May when he notices the look that May has on her face.

“Coulson and I haven’t been together in a very long time.” May informs Ward.

“That’s not what I asked.” Ward tells her “I was standing right next to you when the explosion occurred.” He reminds her “The first thing you did is call for Skye then when Fitz told you she was okay you asked about Coulson. I saw your face when Fitz said that he was hurt and I’ve watched you sit by his bedside without moving for the past sixteen hours. It clear that there is still something there.” Ward tells May but before she can say anything they notice Skye coming towards them

“What’s wrong?” May asks as soon as the doors open.

“He wants to do something stupid and I can’t talk him out of it.” Skye tells them “I need your help.”

“Of course he does.” Melinda mutters under her breath not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

“It’s not stupid I just want to go up to my room. I don’t want to spend any more time in here than necessary.” Coulson says and May realises that the Lab must remind him of the Lab he was in when he was brought back to life.

“You’ve just woken up after Surgery, you shouldn’t be moving, you can’t even move by yourself. There is no way you are going to get up those stairs.” Skye reminds Coulson. “Tell him.” She says looking at May and Ward.

“Skye, Agent Ward give us a minute.” May requests.

Ward nods and exits the room, Skye right behind him. After the last few days Skye has come to the realisation that if there is anyone who has a chance of being successful at talking Coulson out of doing something stupid that it is May.

“Later today we will be flying to England.” May reveals “Director Fury has a Doctor standing by who will check all your injuries, he will do that right here. Once he finishes and gives his recommendation I will help you upstairs myself.” May informs Coulson.

“Thank you.” Coulson tells her.

May nods “Are you alright?” She asks as she notices that his eyes are flickering opening and closed.

“I’m fine, just a bit tired.” Coulson admits.

“Well I’ll let you get some rest then.” May tells him

“It’s been a minute can I come back in?” Skye asks opening the door.

“Yeah, come in.” Coulson answers and both Skye and Ward walk back in, Skye sits right back down on her seat and “So, what happened?” asks when she does.

“We reached a compromise.” May tells Skye “But Coulson also needs some rest so how about we let him get some.” May suggests.

“If I’m quite do you mind if I stay?” Skye asks Coulson curious.

“Not at all.” Coulson answers “But Simmons said you said down here all night, how about you get some rest of your own.” He suggests.

“I’m fine.” Skye assures “I got a few hours’ sleep last night, it was May who was awake all night, again.” She adds. “You really don’t sleep much do you?” She asks looking at May.

“I get enough.” May answers.

“What about food? When was the last time you ate?” Coulson asks, knowing that it’s not the time to talk about May’s very bad sleep pattern, but as he notices the quick look that flashes on Skye’s face he realises he said something wrong “I like you sitting down here with me Skye, I really do, but I don’t want you to forget to look after yourself just because you’re worried about me.” He explains.

“I’m not.” Skye assures “And the last time I ate was last night, Fitz brought May and I dinner.”

“Which according to Fitz, neither of you ate much of.” Ward comments causing Skye to give him a look which says “Not helping.”                               

“I’m fine.” Skye stresses “Besides, you’ll be bored out of your brain if you are down here alone for too long.”

“Very true.” Coulson admits “So how about just half an hour. That gives you enough time to have some food and maybe a shower and not long enough for me to get bored.” Coulson suggests.

“Okay, half an hour.” Skye says reluctantly as she is actually a little hungry and could use a shower.

“Good.” Coulson tells her and Skye leaves followed by May leaving Coulson and Ward alone.  

“Glad you are doing better Sir.” Ward tells Coulson.

“Thank you Agent Ward.” Coulson responds.

“Simmons has informed me that I will be out of the Field for at least a few weeks.” Coulson informs Ward “While I am protecting the team is you’re responsibly.” Coulson requests.

“Of course Sir, you don’t need to ask.” Ward tells him.

“Good.” Coulson replies. “Now if Agent May knew what I was about to say I would probably require another surgery but I am going to say it anyway.” Coulson reveals.

“Sir?” Ward asks slightly worried though doing his best not to show it.

“I know better than anyone that Agent May can protect and watch out for herself but I also know that she’s been hurt in the past, I should, after all I’m one of the people who have hurt her the most, and I never want to see her that hurt again.” Coulson reveals “While we were in Mexico Agent May informed me of your relationship and now I’m informing you that I will not tolerate her being hurt again.” Coulson tells Ward the threat clear in his voice.

“What do you think you are doing?” May’s clearly angry voice says from the door to the lab.  “Go.” She says to Ward as she walks past him, looking absolutely furious.

Ward quickly leaves the room, not wanting to be in the middle of whatever is about to happen between May and Coulson but as he leaves he realises that in a way he already is. As he does he hears May say “You had no right to do that.” To Coulson, and as he walks up the stairs he is pretty confident that May added an “Again.” To that sentence but he can’t be sure.

* * *

 

After leaving the Lab Ward heads upstairs planning to make sure that Skye doesn’t go downstairs until he is as sure as he can be that May and Coulson aren’t fighting anymore as that is the last thing Skye needs to hear.

“Where’s Skye?” Ward asks FitzSimmons who are in the command centre.

“Shower.” Simmons answers “Where’s Agent May? She said that she was going to get you then she was going to start the briefing.” Simmons informs Ward.

“Downstairs, and she may be a while.” Ward tells them.

“Why?” Fitz asks interested.

“Don’t ask.” Ward advices.  

“Is Agent Coulson okay?” Simmons asks concerned.

“He’s fine.” Ward assures her though he can’t help but wonder if he will stay that way.

“So what do we do?” Fitz asks as he and Simmons exchange looks both wondering what is going on.

“We wait for Agent May.” Ward tells them.

* * *

 

About ten minutes after Ward entered the Command Centre Agent May does. When she does she doesn’t give a single sign that anything is wrong even though Ward is pretty positive that she just had a fight with Coulson.

“The mission’s simple. Go in, determine the status of the 0-8-4 and get out.” May tells the three agents “The area has be swept and is classified as safe. That means that no other explosive devices have been found but there could be other dangers.” May tells the three “I will monitor everything from here. You leave in ten, suit up.” May tells them and all three of them nod and leave.

“Leave for where in ten?” Skye asks curious standing at the door eating cereal out of a bowel with her fingers, clearly only recently out of the shower, “What’s going on?” she asks as the others exit.

“They’re going back to the 0-8-4 sight. Director Fury orders are to determine whether the item has been destroyed and once that determination has been made fly to England.” May explains as she does something on one of the tablets.

“Why England?” Skye asks curious.

“It’s the nearest large S.H.I.E.L.D base.” May explains.

“Makes sense.” Skye admits “I was about to head back down to sit with Coulson, but I can stay if you need help with anything mission related.” Skye offers.

“Are you sure?” May asks knowing how much Skye would rather be down with Coulson but appreciating the offer.

“Yeah, it’s what he would want me doing.” Skye tells her mother walking over to her, placing her bowl of cereal on the table as she does “What can I do?”

“Even though the area has been cleared of explosives there is still danger with sending FitzSimmons and Ward in.” May explains.

“You want to go with them.”  Skye realises.

“Director Fury strongly hinted that I should.” May admits “Ward is a more than a capable Agent but with the dangers and with what happened yesterday it would be better if two combat operatives were there for the safety of the non-combat ones.” May explains.

“Makes sense.” Skye admits “But someone has to stay here and monitor the op, right?” she asks “That’s what you were going to do?”

“Exactly.” May answers.

“Monitor the inferred satellites right?  Keep an eye on the area. Stay in contact with the team.” Skye says and Melinda nods “I’ll do it.” Skye says taking the tablet of May as even though she wants to go down and sit with Coulson this is what the team needs her to do.

May nods “It shouldn’t take too long.” She tells Skye.  

“Go, I’ll be okay.” Skye assures her mother who nods and leaves the room “Just make sure you are too.” Skye tells Melinda just as she walks out of the room.

* * *

 

When May reaches down into the Cargo bay she sees Fitz and Ward preparing the last few thing that they need and Simmons in the lab checking on Coulson.

“Change of plan.” May says walking up to Ward and Fitz. “Skye will be monitoring the mission, I will be coming with you.” She tells them.

“Really?” Ward asks surprised.

“She offered.” May reveals.

“How’s Agent Coulson?” Fitz asks Simmons as she exits the lab.

“Just fell asleep again.” Simmons answers.

* * *

 

Ten minutes after May left the Command Centre FitzSimmons, Ward and May are on their way back to the 0-8-4 site.

“Skye? What’s it looks like?” Ward asks through the coms.

“Good. The only activity in the area is the Israeli soldiers, there are about ten of them with two trucks. They’re a couple of hundred meters away from the site.” Skye tells them.

“No other activity?” May asks.

“None.” Skye answers after double checking all the feeds she has open. One of which is a feed into the Lab that she is using to keep an eye on Coulson.

“Keep us updated.” Ward tells her.

“Will do.” Skye responds

* * *

 

Five minutes after Skye gave her update saying the area was clear FitzSimmons, Ward, and May arrive at the site.

“Remember as quick as possible guys.” Ward reminds them as the exit the car.

“Science isn’t something that can be hurried Agent Ward.” Fitz informs him.

“I don’t care, just get it done.” Ward tells him.

“Skye?” May asks through the Coms.

“Still clear as far as I can tell, how’s things on your end?” She asks curious.

“A mess.” May answers “The bomb did a lot of damage.”

“We already know that.” Skye comments as she looks at the open feed of Coulson down in the lab.

* * *

 

For over an hour FitzSImmons search the area looking for the 0-8-4. They find a few little pieces that read as alien artefacts which they collect but they don’t find much more than that. Once they have they have collected everything that is Alien they contact Skye to tell her that they are on their way back.

“Gotcha, you’re all clear. See you when you get back.” Skye informs the others before placing the tablet back in its holder and leaving the Command Centre.

Once she leaves the Command Centre Skye collects her laptop out of her bunk and grabs a bottle of water for herself before heading down to the lab to check on Coulson.

When Skye down to the cargo area she looks through the Glass Doors and sees that Coulson hasn’t woken in the few minutes since she left the Command Centre. Deciding that she will wait for the others to get back before she goes in and sits with him once more Skye sits down on the bottom of the stairs and waits.

* * *

 

After only waiting a few minutes Skye hears the sound of a car and soon after she sees the Car pull up.

“This time you’re definitely our Welcoming Committee right?” Ward asks Skye.

“Nope.” Skye tells him “Just making sure you are all okay before I go and sit with Coulson again.” She reveals “Are you?” She asks looking at May.

“We’re fine.” May assures her “Good work today.” She tells Skye.

“Thanks.” Skye tells her the complement meaning a lot to her.

“Wheels up in ten.” May says before heading upstairs.

“He’s been asleep since you guys left.” Skye informs Simmons “Should I worry?” she asks concerned.

“No, it’s perfectly normal. But I can double check everything if you would like.” Simmons tells her.

“Thanks I would appreciate it.” Skye tells her with a nod.

“Oh don’t worry about remains of the Alien objects, Ward and I will handle them.” Fitz says sarcastically.

“Thanks that would be great.” Skye calls over her shoulder.  

“Come on, looks like we’re on our own.” Ward tells Fitz sounding slightly amused.

“That seems to be happening a lot lately.” Fitz says as Ward opens the back of the car and they each grab a box of the Materials they collected.

“That it does.” Ward says as he closes the door to the trunk.

 

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	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

They have been in the air for half an hour when there is a knock on the door to the cockpit and Ward walks in.

“ETA?” He asks curious.

“1200 hours Local time.” May answers.

“Three hours to go then.” Ward says sitting down. “Are we going to talk about what happened earlier?” Ward asks curious after what feels like several long minutes have passed in silence.  

“What about it?” May asks “Coulson was out of line it’s as simple as that.”  She says.

“He wants to protect you. There is nothing out of line about that.” Ward tells her.

“I don’t need his protection.”

“I know, you don’t need anyone’s protection, but he cares about you and that’s not going to change.”  Ward reveals.

“What’s your point?” May asks sounding annoyed.

“My point is that we agreed that this would only work if didn’t affect the job, and now it is.” Ward tells her. “In the last few days relationships on this plane have gotten a lot more complicated.” Ward reminds her.

“So your saying why add another to the mix.” May realises, knowing that he’s got a point.

“Exactly.” Ward tells her. “I don’t know what is going on between you Coulson but it is clear that something is, even if neither of you will admit it. I’m not going to be in the middle of that, I won’t.”

“Nothing’s going on between me and Coulson.” May says, though deep down she wonders who she is trying to convince “But you are right about one thing, the last thing this plane needs is another complication.” May admits.

“So we end it.” Ward says.

“We end it.” May confirms.

“We’re still on for training tomorrow, right?” Ward asks as just because they will no longer be engaging in a sexual relationship doesn’t mean he want to lose the friendship they have formed “I’m still wanting on that rematch.”

“Of course.” May confirms knowing what he is really asking “But don’t think a rematch will do you any good, I’ll still win.” May jokes.

“If you say so.” Ward says getting up and leaving the Cockpit, giving May an overconfident grin as he does.

* * *

 

Ever since Simmons assured Skye that Coulson was doing okay she has been sitting by his bedside on her laptop waiting for him to wake up. About an hour into the trip Skye closes her laptop because she sees that he has woken,

“Hey, my typing didn’t wake you did it?” She asks.

“No.” Coulson answers “Are we in the air?” he asks as he can feel the plane move.

“Yeah. We have been for about an hour.” Skye answers “How are you feeling?” She asks concerned.

“Good, well as good as I can be. I’m a little hungry though.” He admits “What happened with the 0-8-4?” He asks.

“Most of it was destroyed in the blast. The pieces that are left are in containment boxes and will be dealt with in England.” Skye explains “What do you feel like? I could go make you something if you want.” She offers.

“Anything that tastes good. I would say a steak but the last time I requested that after being hurt I got a very long lecture from my Doctor.” Coulson tells her.

Skye laughs at that “I’ll go find Simmons, see what she says is okay for you to eat. Pretty sure that it won’t be a steak but I’ll do my best to make it something good.” Skye tells Coulson.

“I would appreciate it.” He tells her.

“Be right back.” She says putting her laptop down on the desk and heading upstairs.

* * *

 

When Skye gets up to the higher level she sees Ward and Fitz playing cards but doesn’t see Simmons anywhere, “Where’s Simmons?” She asks.

“In her bunk.” Fitz answers.

“Cool, thanks.” Skye tells him and she walks over to Simmons bunk and knocks.

“Yes?” Simmons asks and when Skye opens the door she sees Simmons laying on her bed reading.

“Coulson’s awake and he’s hungry. I said I would make him something but I was wondering whether there is anything that he can’t have? Or anything I just shouldn’t give him?” Skye asks curious.

“Something light.” Simmons tells her, “His stomach won’t be able to handle anything too heavy.” Simmons tells her.

“Any suggestions?” She asks curious “I kind of told him that I would do my best to make it taste good.”

“Something with Chicken would be good, but no red meat.” Simmons tells her.

“What about chicken noodle soup?” Skye asks curious “Is that okay? Because it’s one of like only four things that I know how to make.” Skye asks.

“That will be fine.” Simmons tells her “But honestly Skye I don’t understand how you’ve been on this plane for so long not picked up a few things.” Simmons tells her friend.

“I’ve tried.” Skye says defensively “But you, Coulson, Fitz and Ward do most of the cooking and you don’t let anyone else in the kitchen when you do.”

“You have very good point.” Simmons realises “Would you like some help?”

“Yes, I would like that.” Sky tells her and Simmons puts a bookmark in her book, closes it, gets up and follows Skye into the kitchen.

“Wait Simmons, you’re letting Skye into the kitchen? Is that safe?” Ward asks, noticing what the pair is doing.

“Hardy, har, har, you’re hilarious.” Skye tells him sarcastically.

“Who’s joking?” Fitz asks as he and Ward walk over to the two girls “Isn’t your kitchen ban still in place?”

“That was once you guys.” Skye tells them “I forgot I left a spoon in a bowel, once. Are you never going to let me forget that?” She asks curious.

“You almost blew up the microwave. We’re not going to let that go in a hurry.” Ward tells her.

“I’m ignoring you both now.” Skye says after rolling her eyes “Jemma do you want to defrost the chicken while I get the other ingredients.” Skye suggest.

“Can do.” Simmons tells Skye and the pair get started on the soup. Ward and Fitz making the occasional comment as they do.

* * *

 

Half an hour later Skye and Jemma are taking a tray of food down to Coulson. Skye is carrying the tray and Jemma is with her so that she can show Skye how to raise the top end of the table that Coulson is on so that he can sit up.

“Thanks for your help.” Skye says to Simmons as they enter the lab.

“You’re welcome.” Simmons responds.

“Hey.” Skye says to Coulson “So I made you Chicken Noodle soup, I hope that’s okay, I don’t really know how to cook much else.” Skye admits.

“That sounds good.” Coulson says as Simmons adjusts the table so that Coulson is in a sitting position.

“There we go.” Simmons says to Coulson “You can put the tray on that cart.” Simons says to Skye referring to the cart behind Skye.

“Cool, thanks.” Skye tells her and Simmons leaves and she hands the tray to Coulson.

“Do you know how long until we land?” Coulson asks Skye curious.

“No, but I can find out.” Skye says “May, how long until we land? Coulson’s wondering.” Skye asks through the coms system.

“About two hours.” May answers.

“Thanks.” Skye tells her sitting back down in her chair. “She said two hours.” Skye informs Coulson.

Coulson nods and tries some of the soup.

“It’s not completely horrible is it?” Skye asks worried “I could get you something else if it is.”

“It’s good Skye relax.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Really?” Skye asks surprised.

“Really.” Coulson confirms.

“Cool.” Skye says with a small smile.

* * *

 

Once Coulson finishes his soup he and Skye spend the next few hours playing chess on Skye’s computer.  They have played three games when Melinda’s voice comes through the coms system telling everyone to get ready for the decent, Coulson having won two out of the three.

Once Melinda gives everyone the all clear Skye heads back into the lab. She sits back down just as Melinda says “Coulson a doctor will be here in ten minutes to check you out.”

“Guess that forth game is going to have to wait then.” Skye tells Coulson. “Guess it’s also time for me to disappear.” She comments.

“It won’t stay like this Skye.” Coulson tells her “It’s just…” Coulson begins to say but Skye cuts her off.

“Big S.H.I.E.L.D can’t know about me until you find out what the Big Guy knows, I get it.” Skye tells him.

“I’m sorry.” Coulson tells her.

“I know, its okay.” Skye assures “You’re just trying to protect me. I’ll see you later.” Skye says picking up her laptop and leaving the lab.

As Coulson watches Skye go he feels horrible and it has nothing to do with the shrapnel wound in his stomach.

* * *

 

After the Doctor finishes examining Coulson May keeps her promise and helps him up to his room. As she does it is very clear to Coulson that she is still angry at him for what he did earlier because she doesn’t say a single word to him.

“I’ll tell Skye that she can come sit with you again.” May tells Coulson after helping him into his bed.

“Melinda wait.” Coulson says stopping her from leaving the room “I’m sorry. I know I was out of line earlier, I just don’t want to see you hurt again.” He tells her.

“Yes, you were out of line.” May tells him, turning to face him after locking the door for privacy, “But you don’t have to worry about that anymore Ward and I ended things.” She tells him.

“You did?” Coulson asks surprised.

“Yes we did.” Melinda tells him still clearly annoyed “It was never going to be something serious, we both knew that when we started.” May reveals, “It means a lot that you don’t want to see me hurt, it really does, but you can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep interfering in my personal life, not anymore.” She tells him.

“Do you remember what you told me the night we got drunk to celebrate three months at the academy?” Coulson asks curious.

“Oh god I hate tequila?” Melinda asks as even though a lot of her memories of that night are gone there are still something’s that she remembers.

“No, not that, that was the next morning.” Coulson reminds her with a smile “You said that we should promise to always have each other’s back, promise that we would always watch out for and protect one another, keep each other from getting hurt, and we did. We made that promise, and I’ve broken that more than once. I haven’t always had your back and defiantly haven’t protected you or kept you from getting hurt, and I hate that.” Coulson admits “I interfere in your personal life to try and stop you from getting hurt. I never want for you to get hurt by someone else the way you were hurt by me.”  

“No one could hurt me the way you did.” May says before unlocking the door and leaving without another word.

 

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	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Four days after the team landed in England, exactly a week after Skye found out May and Coulson are her parents, Skye is woken by a nightmare. The same nightmare she has been woken by the last four nights. Knowing that she won’t be able to get back to sleep Skye gets up. Also knowing that it will be a little while before anyone else will up Skye decides to search the games cupboard for something for Coulson to do as ever with every day that passes it is becoming more clear that he is getting sick of being on bed rest.

“Skye? What are you doing?” May’s voice asks.

Skye is so startled by the voice that she hits her head on the shelf above her “Hi, sorry. I didn’t wake you did I?” She asks hoping that she didn’t.

“No, when I’m not flying I’m always wake this early to do some Tia- Chi. What about you? What are you doing up?” She asks Skye curious as she knows that Skye isn’t one for waking up early.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Skye answers.

“So you decided to dig through the games cupboard at 5:30 in the morning?” May asks surprised.

“Yeah I figured why not? I’m trying to find something for me and Coulson to do. He’s really starting to get very frustrated with being on bed rest so I was trying to find something to help lessen his frustration a bit.” Skye explains.

“From what I have heard he was frustrated days ago.”  May comments.

“Oh he was.” Skye confirms “But he is so much worse now.” She explains. “What’s going on with you guys anyway? You haven’t said a single word to each other in days.”

“It’s nothing.” May says not wanting Skye to be concerned.

“Don’t tell me it’s nothing when it clearly is, please.” Skye requests “I just want to know.” She tells her.

“Come and sit down.” May requests, walking over and sitting down on of the couches knowing that she has to explain a few things to Skye who walks over and sits down across from her.

“Before you were born Coulson and I agreed that we would never let whatever was going on between us affect you, and I’m sorry that in the last few days it has.” May tells her daughter.

“It doesn’t matter.” Skye tells her “I don’t mind, I just want to know what’s going on. I want to know that you guys are okay.” Skye tells her mother.

“I mind.” Melinda tells her “Phil and I will work out what it is that is going on between us. We always do.” Melinda assures.

“But your divorced, how can you be divorced if you always work things out?” Skye asks confused.

“We didn’t get divorced because we couldn’t work things out. We got divorced because we just couldn’t be together anymore.” Melinda explains.

“Because you lost me.” Skye comments.

“No, it was because of who we were.” Melinda corrects “At the time the people we were just couldn’t be together. We choose to end our marriage to try and save our friendship, save the partnership that still had a chance of working.” Melinda explains.

“You’re professional one.” Skye realises.

“Exactly.” Melinda answers. “The friendship, the partnership that we started all those years ago is the part of our relationship that we value the most, but it is also the hardest part because we’ve been so many things to each other, and that will never change. Yes, we are friends, but at the same time we will never be able to be _just friends_. There will always be more between us, that is something we can’t change, but there has got to be a line, which is something that we both forget sometimes. This fight, we’ve had it before, and I’m sure we’ll have it again. We’ll work it out, just like we have every other time, it just takes some time and some space.” Melinda explains, “You don’t need to worry about us, okay. We’ll be okay.” Melinda assures her daughter.

“How can you be so sure?” Skye ask hesitantly, not understanding how Melinda can be so certain that they will work things out.

“Because we always are.” Melinda tells her “It’s a simple as that.”

“Can I help?” Skye asks curious, hoping she can because she wants to do something.

“No.” Melinda says quickly “Skye no matter what happens between Phil and I neither of us will let it change anything between us and you. You being drawn into the middle of our fight is the last thing that either of us wants, I’m so sorry that you have.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“It’s okay.” Skye assures though admittedly it hasn’t been too good of a feeling knowing that your parents haven’t been speaking for days. “How much longer are we in England for?” Skye asks changing the subject because even though she wanted to know what was going on between Coulson and May she doesn’t want to talk about them fighting anymore.

“A few days at least.” Melinda answers “Director Fury has ordered us to stay here until Phil is no longer on bed rest, which is an only a couple more days but it could be longer.” Melinda explains.

“Cool.” Skye tells her “Have I totally ruined your Tia-Chi schedule?” she asks concerned.

“No, I’ve still got plenty of time. Would you like to join me?” She asks her daughter.

“I wouldn’t know what to do.” Skye says sounding nervous.  

“I could teach you, if you want” Melinda offers.

“Really?” Skye asks clearly liking the idea.

“Really.” May confirms “Go get changed.”

A few minutes’ later Skye returns changed into her workout clothes and May spends the next hour teaching her some Tia-Chi

* * *

 

Three days later Coulson is officially off bed rest, for which he is very thankful for. The bus is still in parked in England because even though Coulson is off bed rest he isn’t fully recovered or allowed to do any kind of work so Director Fury has grounded the team for another four days. At which point Coulson still won’t be allowed to do any work but will be in better shape. Ever since their morning Tia-Chi session May and Skye have done Tia-Chi together every day.

May and Coulson are still not speaking to one another and despite her Mother’s assurances that they will work things out Skye can’t help but worry that they won’t, though she has kept that fear to herself. It is about ten in the morning and Simmons and Skye are down in the lab, where they have been a lot the last few days, Skye is sitting on one of the chairs and Simmons is across from her siting on one of the tables.

“We’ve got to do something. They are driving me crazy.” Simmons tells Skye.

“We could break it.” Skye suggests.

“We can’t do that, Fitz loves the thing, he would probably cry.” Simmons tells her friend.

“At the moment I’m not seeing the down side to that.” Skye says spinning around on her chair “There has to be something we can do to stop it, because it is getting ridiculous.” Skye tells her.

“I know, but we don’t need to destroy it, just stop them from being able to use it.” Simmons explains to Skye.

“Well then I’m out of ideas, all my involve destroying it. How about you?” Skye asks interested.

“What about Coulson?” Simmons suggests “He can confiscate it, or order them to stop.”

“I tried asking him yesterday. He said that there is no harm in it, that they aren’t hurting anyone, so he wasn’t going to do anything about it.” Skye explains.

“Not hurting anyone? That’s easy for him to say, he’s up in his office all the time, with his door closed I might add, he doesn’t have to put up with it.” Simmons comments surprised that Coulson thinks there is no harm in what Ward and Fitz are doing.

“That’s what I told him, but he still said no.” Skye explains.

“What about May? She must be getting just as annoyed by it as we are. She’s sure to want to stop it.” Simmons comments, feeling like May at least would be on their side.

“She’s been spending all her time either in the cockpit avoiding Coulson or down here training. I have no clue if it’s bothering her.” Skye admits.  

“We’re not getting anywhere.” Simmons says with a sigh “Why is she spending time in the Cockpit when we’re not in the air?” Simmons asks confused.

“Like I said, avoiding Coulson.” Skye explains.

“What is going on between them?” Simmons asks interested.

“I’m not exactly sure.” Skye admits “May said that they will work this out that that they have had this fight before, but she didn’t say what they are fighting about and I haven’t asked Coulson because with how he was acting while he was on bed rest I thought it wasn’t the best idea.” Skye explains. 

“Probably a smart choice.” Simmons tells her knowing very well how Coulson has been acting. “How are you doing? You don’t seem to be getting much sleep lately.” She asks her friend concerned. 

“I appreciate the concern but I’m fine.” Skye tells Simmons.

“Are you sure?” Simmons ask.

“Yes I’m sure, no need for overprotective big sister mode, I promise.” Skye tells her though she does appreciate the concern she doesn’t want Simmons to worry about her over a couple of nightmares “Now if we could stop Fitz and Ward I would be great.”

“I think we need a fresh set of eyes on the problem. We’ve been trying to figure out a way to get rid of the thing since an hour after they brought it. We can’t think straight.” Simmons tells Skye.

“May will be here in five minutes for her hour long beat the crap out of the punching bag session, I think you’re right, we need her.” Skye admits.

“You’ve memorised her training schedule?” Simmons asks surprised.

“It’s was either that or listen to Ward and Fitz.” Skye tells her with a shrug.

“Good choice.”

“I thought so.”

“So how are you doing with May and Coulson? Things still good?” She asks interested.

“Yeah.” Skye says smiling, something that Simmons has notice Skye does a lot when talking about her parents “It’s odd with the whole them not speaking to each other thing which I really wish would stop, but apart from that things are really good.” Skye admits. “Doing Tia-Chi with May has been really good and it was nice spending all that time with Coulson while he was on bed rest even if he was frustrated and grumpy most of the time. Thing are going good.” Skye reveals.

“Oh, I’m so happy for you.”  Simmons tells her friends truly happy for her “So what are your nightmares about?” she ask.

“You know about that?” Skye asks surprised.

“Your bunks next to mine.” Simmons reminds Skye. Skye’s bunk being in the middle between hers and Fritz’s. “I’ve heard you, and I don’t appreciate you lying to me.” Simmons tells Skye. The reason behind her asking Skye if she was okay first being that she wanted to know if she would open up.

“I’m sorry, but it’s not nothing you need to worry about.” Skye assures her friend.

“You have had a nightmare almost every night for the past week. That’s a lot, even for you.” Simmons tells Skye as ever since Skye joined the bus she has had nightmares quite often but not as often as she has been having them lately.

“It’s nothing.” Skye tells her.

“Please talk to me Skye, I just want to know that you are okay.” Simmons tells her friend.

“There about Coulson.” Skye admits quietly. “Well not just him… I see the explosion again but this time when I get to him he’s dead and there’s nothing I can do. Sometimes it’s not just him but May as well, and you, Ward, Fitz. You’re all dead and I’m alone again.” Skye explains not looking at Simmons the entire time that she does.

“Why don’t you try talking to your parents about it?” Simmons suggests “It might help.”

“No, I don’t want them to worry, and you can’t tell them.” Skye tells her.

“I won’t.” Simmons assures “But Skye, they’re your parents. Worrying about you is their job. It could help.”

“There’s no need. I’ll be fine, it’s just a couple of nightmares.” Skye comments as they both hear someone, they assume May, walk down the stairs. “Come on.” She says getting up of the chair and leaving the lab.  

“Hey, can we talk to you before you begin your work out?” Skye asks May curious.

“Of course.” May tells her. “What’s up?”

“We need your help.” Simmons tells her. 

“Is this about Fitz and Ward?” May asks assuming it is.

“Yes.” Skye and Simmons say together “We need a way to stop them that isn’t destroying the thing because Simmons is sure that that will make Fitz cry and she doesn’t what that. We’re out of ideas, we were hoping that maybe you would have one.” Skye explains.

“Simmons is right you don’t need to destroy it. All you need to do is put it somewhere that they will never look. Then your problem is solved.” May explains.

“Where won’t they look?” Skye asks confused “If they can’t find it then I’m pretty sure that they will turn this whole plane upside down looking for it.” 

“Coulson’s closet. Hide it in there. It is the one place they will never look.” May tells the two girls.

“Coulson already said that he’s not helping.” Skye explains “I’ve asked.”

“You don’t need his help.” May tells her “I happen to know that every day since he has been off bed rest Coulson goes for a jog at 12:03, he’s gone exactly forty seven minutes. You can do it then.” May explains.

“Forty seven minutes? Isn’t that a bit too much? He’s is still recovering after all.” Skye asks Simmons worried.

“Even though he is healing extremely well, that could be pushing himself a bit too hard.” Simmons reveals looking concerned.

“He walks for the last fifteen minutes.” May explains causing both Skye and Simmons to look at her and wonder how she could possibly know that.

“Okay, completely side stepping how you could possibly know that.” Skye says “What about Ward and Fitz? They are never off the thing.” Skye reminds May and Simmons.

“I’ll handle Fitz and Ward.” May tells the pair “Once I have gotten them out of the way get the thing and hide it in the very back of Coulson’s closet. When they ask you what you were doing what it went missing tell them you were helping me with a system diagnostic. According to the log that is what both of you will be doing.”

“Thank you.” Simmons tells her.

“Yeah, thank you.” Skye tells her mother.

“It’s fine. You are not the only ones who have been annoyed by them.” May explains “I’ll be just as happy to be rid of the thing as you are.”

“Cool. Well we’ll let you get started on your training.” Skye tells her mother. “See you later.” Skye says and her and Simmons head back into the Lab leaving May to beat up the punching bag. May hearing Skye say, “Oh, I finished it last night. I put it with the other stuff.” As the door to the Lab closes.

* * *

 

As soon as Coulson leaves the plane for his run May sends Fitz and Ward to pick her up a few things giving more than enough time for Skye and Simmons to do what they need to.

“Do we take the whole thing or just the Band Hero?” Simmons asks Skye curious.

“Just the band hero, they can keep the PlayStation, for now.” Skye says “Now remember when they get back don’t attempt to lie because you suck at it, okay. Let me do the talking.” Skye says as they kneel down in front of the game console and start removing cords.

“This will never work, they will know that it was us.” Simmons reminds Skye.

“Yeah they will, but all we have to do is not tell them where it is. That’s not lying it’s just withholding the truth.” Skye says as she unplugs the last cord. “That’s it come on.” Skye tells Jemma.

* * *

 

Once they have hidden all the Band Hero parts in Coulson’s closet Simmons and Skye head down stairs where they sit at one of the tables and chairs and play chess, Skye wanting all the practice she can get before she plays Coulson again.

Five minutes before, according to May, Coulson is due to get back from his jog Ward and Fitz get back from the job May sent them to do. As soon as they do they attempt to play the Band Hero but they find it gone. As soon as they do they accuse Skye and Simmons of doing something to it.

“Why would we touch you stupid game?” Skye ask.

“Because you haven’t liked it since we got it.” Fitz tells her.

“So? That doesn’t mean we took it.” Skye tells him “We couldn’t have. We’ve been helping May run a diagnostic since you’ve been gone, check the logs if you don’t believe us. They will tell you that we only finished a few minutes ago.” Skye says very glad that how far she and Simmons are into their latest game backs that up.

“Simmons is that true?” Ward asks knowing that Simmons can’t like.

“That is what the logs will tell you.” Simmons says knowing that it is the truth though she still isn’t completely convincing.

“Tell us where you put it.” Ward tells Skye.

“We didn’t take it.” Skye tells him.

“YES YOU DID.” Fitz yells “Just tell us what you did to it.” Fitz says.

“What, is going on here?” Coulson’s asks walking into the room. 

Ward, FitzSimmons and Skye all turn to look at him, none of them say anything but they all have the look of a naughty child being caught by the principle on their faces.

“One of you start talking.” Coulson tells the four.

“They took our Band Hero.” Fitz explains pointing to Skye and Simmons as he does.

“Skye?” Coulson asks his daughter.

“We didn’t take it.” Skye tells him “We couldn’t have. We’ve been helping May with a diagnostic since they’ve been gone. They can ask her or check the system, it will show that we are telling the truth.” Skye assures.

“I don’t think they are the ones who took your game.” Coulson tells Ward and Fitz. “We’re a team, stop with the fighting.” He say and then he starts to make his way up to his office “Skye, a word.” He says once he’s near the top of the stairs.

After exchanging a look with Simmons Skye follows her father up into his office, closing the door as she enters “Where did you hide it?” Coulson asks as soon as she does.

“I don’t..” Skye beings to say but Coulson cuts her off “I know you and Simmons took it, so let’s try again. Where did you hide it?” He asks.

“Your closet.” Skye answers in a quiet voice.

“Melinda’s idea?” He asks guessing that because she was their alibi that she was in on it.

“Yeah.” She responds “Please don’t give it back to them. Simmons and I will probably end up killing them if you did, and May would likely help.”

“I don’t plan on giving it back to them. That’s why I told them that I didn’t think you took it. This game is coming between our team and I won’t allow that.” Coulson explains.

“Thank you.” Skye tells him very grateful. “How did you know I was lying anyway?” She asks curious.

“You’re a good liar Skye, but I’ve been lied to by the best. I can tell.” He explains.

“Guess I should keep that in mind.” Skye comments.

“Yes, you should.” Coulson tells her.

“I better go check on Simmons, she tried to lie to Ward, she’s probably freaking out, or being interrogated.” Skye tells her father “I’ll talk to you later.” Skye says turning and walking out of the room, pausing at the door before she does “ _We’re a team, stop with the fighting._ You should take your own advice. This whole you and May not taking to each other thing has gone on long enough, don’t you think?” Skye says before leaving the room and Coulson to his thoughts.

* * *

 

Later that night when everyone has gone to bed. May walks up to Coulson’s office where he is still sitting at his desk reading emails and places a bottle of scotch in front of him.

“Glendronach.” Coulson says reading the label “Do you have a supplier?”

“No. Do you?” May asks.

“No. We should probably look into it though, I think we would end up saving a ton.” He realises.

“Probably.” May admits.

“Have we had this vintage before?” Coulson asks curious as he gets two glass.

“Yes. You brought it after Madrid.” May reminds him as she sits down on the seat across from him.

“Right.” Coulson say as he pours the glasses “I remember.”  He says handing May a glass.

“So I hear you helped Skye and Simmons get rid of Ward and Fitz’s new toy.” Coulson comments taking a mouthful of the drink.

“I had to. They were getting ridiculous. I’m surprised you didn’t, it must have bothered you.” May comments.

“Turns out up here is pretty well sound proofed, it barely heard them.” He explains.

“Lucky for you.” May comments, “Have you noticed that something has seemed to be up with Skye for the last few days?” she asks curios.

“Yeah I have. Do you have any idea what?” He asks concerned.

“No. I’ve tried to ask her during our Tia-Chi lessons but she keeps saying nothing’s wrong.” May explains “I’m getting concerned.”

“I’ll try talking to her.” Coulson says finishing of the last of his drink so he pours both him and May another one “See if I can find out.”

“Good. I think something seriously bothering her Phil, but I don’t know what, and I don’t know what to do. I’m worried.” May explains.

“I know, I am too.” Coulson admits.

“How are you doing?” May asks a few minutes later, “What is your Doctor saying?”

“I’m healing perfectly.” Coulson answers “My Doctor is very, very pleased with my progress but I’ve still got a couple more weeks at least before I’m cleared to be in the field.” Coulson’s explains.

“Is Director Fury still saying the same?” May asks curious.

“Yep, stay parked here for a few more days then we can resume missions but I am not to be a part of them in anyway. That you’re in change of all missions that we run until I am cleared.” Coulson tells her.

“I think it will be good for the rest of the team to be out doing missions again, they need to be busy. The last few days are proof of that.” Melinda comments

“That they are.” Coulson tells her.

“Thanks for the drinks.” Melinda says standing up and placing her glass onto Coulson’s desk a few minutes later.

“Anytime.” Coulson tells her. “Melinda.” He says before she leaves “I’m sorry.” He tells her.

“I know. I am too.” May says before leaving the room.

* * *

 

The following day May and Coulson are back to being like how they were before they stopped speaking, if you hadn’t been living on a plane with them for the last week you would have had no idea that they had spent said week not speaking to each other because they aren’t showing any signs that they have been angry or even upset with each other in the very recent past.

Once everyone else goes to bed Skye just lays in her bed waiting until she is sure that enough time has passed that the others would be asleep, not wanting to close her eyes out of a fear of what she will see when she does.

Once she is sure that enough time has passed she gets up and heads straight to the kitchen where she grabs out a container of double chocolate ice cream out of the freezer, a spoon out of the cutlery draw and sits cross legged on top of one of the counters and starts to eat it.

She has only ate a couple of spoonfuls when Coulson walks down the stairs.

“Hey.” Skye says when she sees him “Want to pull up a spoon?” She asks curious.

“Why not.” Coulson says walking over to her “You know you shouldn’t really sit up there.”

“Why not? It’s comfortable.” Skye says reaching down and opening the draw to pull out a spoon which she hands to Coulson.

Before Coulson has a chance to explain just why she shouldn’t be sitting on the counter the door to May’s bunk opens and she walks out.

“I thought I heard your voices.” May says walking over to them.

“Hey, Ice Cream?” Skye asks May.

“Of course.” May tells her.

“So does not being able to sleep run in this family or something?” Skye asks curious as she eats a spoonful on ice cream not realising that she actually referred to the three of them as a family for the first time.

“Why can’t you sleep?” Coulson asks trying to make the question sound casual as he eats his own spoonful of ice cream.

“Oh, you know the usual.” Skye answers vaguely “What about you guys? Why are you eating Ice Cream at two in the morning instead of sleeping?” Skye asks curious trying to direct the conversation off of her.

“Oh, you know the usual.” Coulson tells her saying in the same vague tone she used a minute earlier.

“Cute.” Skye says with a smile “But whatever your reasons, I’m glad for the company.” Skye admits.

“So are we.” May tells her before eating a spoonful of the ice cream.

While Skye is focused on trying to digging at the ice cream, trying to get as much as she can on one spoon May and Coulson exchange a look, deciding without words which one of them attempt to discover what has been wrong with Skye for the last few days.

“Are you alright Skye?” Coulson asks curious.

“I’m fine.” Skye assures “Why do you ask? Did Simmons talk to you?” She asks her voice accusing.

“No. Why? Should she of?” May asks.

“No.” Skye says quickly.

“You know you can tell us if something’s wrong.” Coulson tells.

“Agh, I’m fine!” Skye says clearly annoyed “I wish everyone would stop asking me that.” She says placing the ice cream down on the bench before jumping of where she is sitting and heading to her bunk, where she closes the door rather loudly. She understands that everyone, as everyone on the bus has asked if she is okay, are concerned but she doesn’t want to talk about it, she doesn’t even want to think about it as after admitting her nightmares to Simmons the previous day, even telling her some of the details, they were even worse last night. There is no point talking about them if all it does is make things worse.

“That could have gone better.” Coulson comments stabbing the ice cream with his spoon as he does.

“You keep going and you’re going to make mashed ice-cream.” May says taking the ice cream off of Coulson and putting it back in the Freezer. “What do you think we should do?” May asks Coulson quietly, only speaking loud enough for him to here.

“Let her cool off for now. Then I’ll try talking to her again.” Coulson explains “If that doesn’t work then I call Simmons to my office and see what she knows.”

“That’s not a good idea.” May tells him.

“Why not?” Coulson asks confused.

“We are just beginning to get her to trust us Phil, going behind her back to her friend could destroy that.” May explains.

“It’s not going behind her back, not really.” Coulson comments. “She’ll know that we just did it because we’re worried.” Coulson says.

“I don’t think she’ll see it like that.” May says being almost positive of that “She’ll likely see it as a betrayal. I want to know what’s wrong with her just as much as you do but we’ve got to find the right approach.” May tells him.

“The right approach? This isn’t a mission Melinda, it’s our daughter.” Coulson tells her.

“I know that.” May says to him in an angry whisper. “I know she’s our daughter I’m just saying that, given her history, if we push too hard then we could lose her again.” May explains.

“Maybe that’s what she is doing.” Coulson comments.

‘What do you mean?” May asks confused.

“Maybe she’s seeing how far she can push us.” Coulson explains “She might not even realise that that is what she is doing. We know that her whole life she has felt like no one wants her, that everyone is just going to be abandoning her so maybe she wants to know how far she can push us, see if we’re still going to be there.” Coulson explains.

“Makes sense.” May admits “But I still don’t think going to Simmons is the right choice. We got to show her that pushing us away won’t work, that we will still be here.” May explains “We’ll each try talking to her again and if that still gets us nowhere then we’ll come up with another plan, I don’t know what else we could do.” She tells Coulson.

“I’ll try tomorrow and I’ll let you know how it goes.” Coulson tells her “Night Melinda.” He says heading back upstairs.

“Night Phil.” May says before heading to her bunk.

* * *

 

As Skye spends most of the next day avoiding everyone Coulson doesn’t get a chance to talk to her. Like the previous night Skye waits until she is pretty sure that everyone is asleep before she leaves her bunk, this time instead of staying on the same level she heads down to cargo bay and sets up the punching bag, thinking that maybe if she makes herself tied enough that she won’t have the nightmares.

She has been punching the bag for about ten minutes when she hears someone walk down the stairs, positive that it is either Coulson or May she doesn’t turn around.

“How about you take a break.” Coulson says as he holds the bag steady.

“No need, I’m fine.” Skye tells him.

“No, you not.” Coulson tells her.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I am? What do I have to do to make you believe me?” She asks Coulson.

“I’ll believe you when it’s the truth.” Coulson tells her “You’re not okay Skye. You’re barely sleeping, you yelled at Fitz today for no reason and you’re down here at two am beating the crap out of a punching bag. This isn’t you.” Coulson tells her “Every single person on this plane cares about you and just want to know that you are okay. So please talk to me, tell me what wrong.” Coulson tells her.

“There’s no point talking.” Skye tells him “I talk, I trust, you leave, that’s the way it works.” Skye explains. “That’s the way it always works.” She says.

“Not this time.” Coulson tells her “We’re not going to leave you Skye.”

“You can’t promise that.” Skye says clearly upset “I watched as a bomb went off which sent you flying. I ran to you praying to something that I don’t even believe in that you would be alive when I got there. I carried you to the car and then sat next to you holding your hand, begging you not to die. So don’t say that you’re not going to leave me because you can’t promise that.” Skye says tears coming to her eyes.

“Oh Skye.” Coulson says realising that he should have known that it was about what happened to him.

“Don’t, I’m…” Skye begins to say but Coulson cuts her off. “You’ve been having nightmares about what happened right?” Coulson asks and Sky nods “Seeing it again?” He asks and he receives another nod.

“But it’s worse, this time you are dead when I get to you, but it’s not just you.” Skye explains walking over and sitting on the stairs, too exhausted to keep fighting everyone.

“Melinda?” He asks walking over and sitting next to her.

“And Simmons, Fitz and Ward.” She confirms.

“You’re scared of losing us.” He says and Skye nods “I can’t promise that you will never loose us but I can promise that as long as I have any say in the matter, we will never leave you, ever, and no matter what you may do you will not push us away.” He tells her “I’m sorry about what happened in Israel, I never wanted you to have to see something like that, and I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with these nightmares on your own. Melinda and I will always be willing to help you Skye, always, but you’ve got to let us. Any time of the day or night our doors are open to you, no matter what, but if for some reason you don’t think you can talk to one of us then go to Simmons, or Ward, or Fitz. Talk to someone, don’t try to handle everything on your own.”

“Simmons told me I should talk to you or May.” Skye says putting her head on her father’s shoulders “But I didn’t want you to worry or think I was being stupid.”

“You should have listened to her.” Coulson says “Being scared of something isn’t stupid, it’s human, and don’t worry about us, worrying about you is what we do.” Coulson explains.

“I may be new to at this but I’m pretty sure worrying goes both ways.” Skye tells her father followed by a yawn.

“Do you think you think you could get some sleep now?” Coulson asks.

“Not yet. Let’s just sit for a while.” Skye requests.

“If you want.” Coulson says putting his arm around her.

Coulson and Skye sit like that for a while, neither saying anything.

“I think it’s time for bed, what do you think?” Coulson asks half an hour later “Skye?” He asks and he turns to see that she is asleep.

“Defiantly time for bed.” He says to himself, knowing that he probably shouldn’t because he is still healing but at the same time not caring Coulson carefully picks Skye up and carries her to her bunk. Once there he lays her in her bed, removes her shoes, and covers her in her blanket and tucks her in. “I love you Skye.” Coulson says giving her a kiss on her forehead and for the first time in almost twenty five years he recites the words that he said to her every time he put her to bed, “Time to sleep Baby Girl, no need to cry. Daddy’s here to fight away the monsters, and Mommy’s gonna help too. Until the end of time we will always love you.” He says feeling a tear come to his eye as he does. He watches Skye sleep for several minutes before he leaves her bunk leaving the door open as he does, but instead of heading up to his own room he sits down on a nearby chair where he can see right into Skye’s bunk so that he can help if she once again has nightmares.

* * *

 

After Coulson carried Skye to bed he stayed outside of her room all night and when she woke a couple of hours later Melinda joined him. They both sat outside their daughters’ bunk watching for signs of nightmares, but none are present. For the first time in almost a week Skye doesn’t have any nightmares.

When Skye does wake she is confused for a minute about where she is as the last thing she remembers is being down in the cargo area taking to Coulson, when she realises that Coulson must have carried her to bed she isn’t too sure what she is feeling but then when see looks out to the living area and sees Coulson and May sitting outside watching her she realises that the feeling she can’t explain the one she doesn’t know what it is, is belonging. It is the feeling of being a part of a family for the first time in her life, being truly loved.

Without a word, she gets up walks over to her parents and hugs them both at the same time

“I’m so sorry about how I’ve been acting.” Skye tells them as she hugs them.

“It okay.” May tells her.

“No its not I was horrible to everyone.” Skye says, realising how out of line she has been acting the last couple of days as the nightmares were beginning to have an even bigger effect on her.

“It’s okay, we forgive you.” Coulson tells her.

“But I wasn’t just horrible to you, I was horrible to everyone. They are going to hate me.” Skye realises.

“We could never hate you Skye.” Fitz says, he Jemma and Ward all standing just outside their respective bunks having been woken up by voices.

Letting go of her parents Skye runs to Fitz and gives him a hug because she knows that she hurt him the most after what she said to him the day before, “I’m so so sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it.” She tells him.

“It’s okay I know.” Fitz tells her awkwardly returning the hug “It’s alright.”

“How about some breakfast.” Ward suggests.

 “That would be very good.” Jemma says as she gets pulled into a hug with Skye and Fitz, Ward smiling as he watches the three, who in so many ways are very similar and who in the only short amount of time that they have known each out have begun to see each other as siblings.

“Hey, you. Get over here.” Skye yells to Ward.

“She’s right, come on Agent Ward.” Simmons says and Ward reluctantly walks over and allows himself to get pulled into the hug.

Once Ward gets pulled into the hug it is May and Coulson’s turns to watch the group with smiles on their faces, thinking about the team that not that long ago were strangers now being a family.

“As long as Melinda and Skye don’t help to cook it breakfast sounds like a very good idea.” Coulson says everyone.

“Hey!” Skye says as Melinda gives him a very annoyed look but doesn’t say anything because she knows that he has a point.

“Come on people let’s get started.” Ward says and he, Simmons, Fitz and Coulson all head to the kitchen to start to cook breakfast in their pyjama’s while Skye and Melinda watch, no-one letting either of them anywhere anything that is cooking.

 

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	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

As soon as Director Fury un grounds the team a few days after they make breakfast together in their pyjamas they head of to their next mission. The mission is simple, get Fitz and Skye to a location so that they can hack a system and determine whether Alien artefacts are being solid out of a residence in Georgia. Despite May and Coulson’s worries the mission goes off without a problem though it is clear that Coulson is very far from happy that he had to stay on plane with Simmons, while May and Ward provide security for Skye and Fitz.

As soon as they finish the mission May flies the plane out of Georgia. Once sure is sure that they are at the right altitude she switches the plane to automatic and leaves the cockpit.

“Hey May, we were just about to start Monopoly, do you want to join?” Skye asks curious from where her Ward and FitzSimmons are sitting around a table setting up the game.

“No.” May says before walking up the stairs into Coulson’s office. “Do you guys think Coulson’s okay?” She hears Skye’s worried voice ask as she does.

When May enters Coulson’s office she sees him sitting on his tablet drinking a glass of scotch.

“That helping?” May ask curious.

“No.” Coulson asks having not even looked up from his tablet when May enters because he already knew who it was going to be.

“Phil..” Melinda starts to say but Coulson cuts her off.

“Don’t start Melinda, I don’t want a pet talk.” Coulson tells her, still not looking up from whatever he is doing on his tablet.

“Good, because I don’t do pet talks.” Melinda tells him.

“So this isn’t you coming up here and telling me that to stop feeling sorry for myself that I’ll be back in the field in no time, so I shouldn’t mope?” Coulson asks.

“No, that’s exactly what this is but it isn’t a pet talk.” May tells him.

“Oh really? Because it defiantly seems like it.” Coulson tells her.

“Well it’s not.” May tells him, “Phil just because you’re not in the field doesn’t mean you’re not needed. It was thanks to you that Ward and I were able to take care of those gauds before they could have gotten to Skye and Fitz, you did that. You protected them. No operative likes being on the sidelines, being the one watching instead of doing but if you don’t take that time, if you don’t watch for a while, if you go back before you are ready then that’s all you’ll be doing.” May reminds him knowing that he knows exactly what she is saying because he once said it to her.

“Using my own speeches against me now?” Coulson asks curious finally looking up from his tablet.

“Sometimes I think you only listen to yourself so I thought I might try it.” May tells him.

“I am ready Melinda, I’m healed, and I’m fine.” He tells her.

“That’s not what your doctors are saying.” Melinda informs him.

“My doctors are idiots.” Coulson says though he knows that it is the opposite.

“You really think you are ready to go back in the Field?” May asks curious.

“Yes.” Coulson answers.

“Absolutely sure?” May asks curious.

“Yes.” Coulson says without hesitation.

“Downstairs. Ten minutes.” May tells him “Let’s see if you really can put your money where your mouth is.” She says leaving his office.

* * *

 

As soon as the four younger Agents hear the door Coulson’s office open they quickly stop talking about how May and Coulson just seem to know what the other is thinking which is what the conversation has progressed to after starting with discussing whether Coulson is okay.

After May leaves Coulson’s office she heads straight to her bunk where she closes the door and leaves a minute later in her workout gear. The four young people doing their best to make it look like they are not watching. A couple of minutes after May goes downstairs Coulson walks down from his office in his own work out gear and heads downstairs.

“Okay, what is going on?” Skye asks the others confused wondering if they have any idea because she doesn’t.

“Sparring session would be my guess.” Ward tells her.

“Coulson’s still healing, how does he think getting wailed on by Agent May is going to help with that?” Fitz asks confused.

“Sparring isn’t the same as being wailed on.” Ward informs him. “It’s about testing your skill in a real way, challenging yourself, getting someone else to point out week spots that you didn’t even realise you have, pushing yourself and seeing what you can do” Ward explains.

“But is it a good idea when Coulson is still healing?” Skye asks concerned.

“It’s the perfect thing to do.” Ward tells her “Coulson wants back in the Field we saw that today but he can’t come back until he well enough. This is a real way to test just how far he’s come and how far he still need to.” Ward explains to her “But don’t worry, neither of them will actually get hurt, a little sore, sure, but not hurt.” He explains.

“If you sure.” Skye says but is still slightly worried “Is it wrong that I kinda want to go watch?” she asks the others after a few minutes of silence.  

“No, it’s not.” Ward tells her because he is thinking the same thing as while he has spared with May quite often and seen Coulson fight he would be interested in watching them spare with each other because he is sure that because of how long they have known each other and how skilled they both are that he could learn a lot just watching.

“So what are we waiting for? Come on.” Skye says standing up, Ward right behind her “Come on.” Skye says pulling up Jemma who in turned pulls up Fitz.   

“This is a very bad idea.” Fitz says as he follow them.

“Ward, you want to go first?” Skye asks curious once they reach the closed door that leads downstairs all of them hiding behind it because none of them want to be the first to go downstairs.  

“No way.” He tells her “You should.”

“Me? Why me?” Skye asks confused.

“It was your idea.” Fitz reminds her.

“And they are your parents so they are less likely to get mad at you.” Simmons adds.

“Okay, fine. Move out of the way.” Skye says and she pushes open the door and walks out but instead of walking down the stairs she walks over and sits down behind the rail, with her legs hanging over the ledge, once she does she uses hand gestures to tell the others to come out.

Just as Skye sits down above Melinda knocks Coulson off his feet below, but he is quickly back on his feats and lands a blow of his own.

“We’ve got an audience.” Coulson informs May.

“I’ve noticed.” May responds as she blocks Coulson’s punch.

While it is perfectly clear to those watching above that May is the better fighter it is also clear that this isn’t the first or even the hundredth time that they have done this, there is a familiarity in the fighting style the kind of which you can only have developed after knowing someone else a very, very long time.

The more they watch the more Skye, Ward, and FitzSimmons are amazed. How well May and Coulson anticipate the others move is incredible, it’s like they are each five moves ahead which causes determining who has the advantage almost impossible until one of them is on the ground.

“Okay, you’ve proven your point.” Coulson tells May after getting knocked down again, fifteen minutes after Skye, Ward, and FitzSimmons came out to watch.

“Twenty Minute. Pretty good.” May says helping him up.

“But not good enough.” He responds.                                                                                   

“Not quite, but you’re getting there.” May responds walking over and grabbing two bottles of water one of which she throws at Coulson, which he catches.

“It’s been a while.” Coulson says taking a drink of his water.

“Yeah it has.” May tells him “You’re defiantly rusty though.” May tells him remembering what he said months earlier.

“It was fun though.” He tells her giving her a look. “Thanks.” Knowing that she didn’t just get them to spar to show him that he wasn’t ready to go back to field work.

“Yeah it was.” May responds with a small smile and returning the look. “And your welcome” she adds.

“Hi, excuse me.” Skye says causing May and Coulson to break the look they were giving each other to look up at their daughter instead, “That was incredible, like seriously that was kind of the most awesome thing ever, you’re both amazing, but how can you call it fun?” Skye asks her father “I wasn’t keeping count but I’m pretty sure that May knocked you down way more times than you knocked her down. How was that fun?”

“It’s hard to explain, it just is.” Coulson tells her with a shrug.

“If you say so.” Skye tells him still not understanding.

“Don’t any of you have more important things that you could be doing?” May asks curious as she walks up the stairs.

“No, not really.” Skye answers with a shrug and a smile, May smiles back at her daughter then heads to have a shower leaving Coulson to pack up the mats as is traditional when the spare, the person who, according to their scale that they worked out years ago, losses packs everything up.

(Line break)

It is another two weeks after his sparing session with May before Coulson is cleared for field work, but he is told that he still has to take it easy. During that time the team goes on another couple of mission but both are routine and there are no problems during either.

Once Coulson is cleared for fieldwork he and May have another sparing session this time without the audience, but this time they spar for almost an hour, instead of just twenty minutes.

* * *

 

It is the early hours of the morning a week after Coulson has been cleared for fieldwork when Jemma is woken by someone shaking her away.

“Skye?” She asks confused wondering why she is being woken up but once her eyes adjust and she actually looks at her friend her confusion goes straight to panic “Skye, you’re shaking? What’s wrong?” Jemma asks quickly sitting up.

 

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	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

“Can we talk?” Skye asks her voice sounding just as scared as when she asked whether Coulson was going to be okay over a month ago.

“Of course, come in, sit down.” Simmons tells her friend.

“Not here, please.” Skye requests.

“Where then?” Simmons ask confused.

“Just follow me.” Skye request and Simmons does just that.

As they walk neither Skye nor Simmons says anything but Simmons spends the time observing Skye. She notices that while Skye is shaking there doesn’t seem to be anything physically wrong but she is holding her laptop close to her. For a minute Simmons thinks that maybe Skye has started to have nightmares again but she realised that for Skye to be shaking this much for her to be this scared she would have heard her having the nightmare, because bad nightmares for Skye aren’t usually quite, though they can be.  

Skye leads Simmons down to the cargo bay where she gets in the backseat of the Car.

“Skye, what’s wrong? Why did you want to talk down here?” Simmons asks as she does the same, concern very clear in his voice.

“I feel safe in here, and I really need to feel safe at the moment.” Skye explains.

“Skye, what happened?” Jemma asks her concern for her friend, her little sister in all but blood, growing every second.

“There is a lot about my past that you guys don’t know, a lot, most of which I’ll probably never tell Coulson and May. I was a screwed up kid for a long time, a really long time, but worse than that I was a screwed up kid who was smart. Living in my van hacking for Rising Tide that was the most stable I had been in a while.” Skye explains.

“Skye what is it?” Jemma asks watching as Skye hugs he laptop closer almost like she doesn’t want to let it go.

 “Rising Tide found me when I was at my most screwed up when what I needed the most was someone to take me in, to look after me. I know now that that’s not what they did, but it’s what it felt like at the time.” Skye explains “They used me for my skill and I let them because I thought that I found people like me and maybe we could be screwed up together and nothing else would matter, that’s about when I met Miles by the way. Joining S.H.I.E.L.D goes against everything Rising Tide is and everything that it holds dear, and me doing that in their eyes in the ultimate betrayal.” Skye explains.

“What do you mean?” Jemma asks confused.

“Read for yourself.” Skye says opening her laptop making sure that the right tab is open and handing it over to Simmons.

“How long ago did you get this?” Simmons asks as she reads.

“About half an hour.” Skye answers “I’m sorry that I woke you I just…” Skye begins to say but Skye cuts her off.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” Simmons assures her friend “Do you know who sent it?”

“No.”

“But it signed, ‘you know who I am’?” Simmons asks confused.

“There are…five people that that I can think of who know enough to send that email, and all five of them would be more than willing to do what they threatened.” Skye explains taking the laptop back and placing in in the back of the chair in front of her.

“Who’s Anna?” Simmons asks confused.

“A friend, the one person besides you guys who ever really looked out for me.” Skye explains.

“You have to tell your parents, let’s go to Coulson right now. He’ll know what to do.” Simmons tells Skye, after reading that email she knows that they are out of their depth.

“I can’t tell my Dad about this.” Skye says referring to Coulson as her Dad out loud for the first time, but because she is so scared she didn’t realise that she did, though Simmons defiantly did “He would have freaked out about me getting an email like this before he knew I was his daughter. He’ll be a hundred times worse now.” Skye tells her.

“Okay, then what did you want to do?” Simmons asks knowing that she is right about Coulson’s reaction but still thinking that it is the best idea.

“I could run, we’ll be landing in the morning. I could disappear. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Skye comments.

“Skye…” Jemma begins to say her voice a cross between disapproval and concern.

“I know, running’s not the answer and I really don’t want to leave, and I can’t just let Anna die, but I don’t know what else to do.” Skye admits. “I can’t just do what they want me to.”

“If you don’t want to go to Coulson because you’re worried about his reaction then fine, we won’t.” Simmons says reaching out and grabbing Skye’s hand because she can see that she is getting upset “But we should go to May. We need help Skye. You and I can’t handle something like this alone.”

“You’re going to help?” Skye asks surprised, she told Simmons what was going on not because she was expecting her help but because she needed to talk to someone.

“Of course I am.” Simmons tells her “What did we say when Coulson was on bed rest?”

“That we’re sisters.” Skye says quietly, remembering what they said when they were hiding in the lab from Fitz and Ward.

“Exactly that means no matter what you decide, no matter what happens I am with you.” She promises “What do you say? Are you alright with us going to May?” Simmons asks.

“Won’t she just tell Coulson anyway?” Skye asks “I mean is that what parents do? Tell each other these kind of things about their kids? Because I know they do it on TV but do they do it in real life as well?” Skye asks confused.

“She’ll most likely tell him.” Simmons confirms, “But even if she does it won’t be the worst thing, we need them Skye and more importantly they would want to know, and if it’s coming from May then she may just be able to get Coulson to calm down.” Simmons explains and after a couple of minutes of debating Skye nods.

“Okay.” Simmons says giving her own little nod “I think she put the plane on automatic so she’ll be in her bunk. Let’s go.” She says.

“Can you go get her?” Skye asks in a quiet voice “Bring her down here?”

“If you promise to still be here when I do.” Simmons tells her.

“Where in the air, there isn’t too many places I can go.” Skye reminds her.

“Please Skye, no jokes.” Simmons tells her “I’m going to go get your Mother, just be here when we get back.” She requests.

“I will.” Skye assures.

“Good. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Simmons tells her and exits the car.

Once Simmons leaves Skye does her best to make herself take up the least amount of space possible. She pulls her legs into her chest and puts her arms around them hugging them close. Still shaking like she has ever since she got the email.

* * *

 

As Simmons walks to May’s bunk she knows there is about a million things that she would rather be doing that waking up Melinda May but after reading that email and hearing Skye talk she knows that it’s what needs to be done to protect Skye, and that’s what she cares about.

“Agent May?” Simmons ask knocking on May’s door and sliding it open.

“What is it Simmons?” May asks not even opening her eyes and clearly annoyed about being woken up.

“It’s Skye.” Simmons says simply very aware that her voice is displaying all the concern that she is feeling.

“What happened?” May asks quickly sitting up now looking wide away “Is she alright?”

“Um, it would be best if you just came with me.” Simmons tells her not really sure how to answer the ‘is she alright?’ question.

“Simmons is she alright?” May repeats.

“Physically she’s fine, but I wouldn’t call her alright.” Simmons explains.

‘Have you woken Coulson?” May asks as they walk past the Command Centre.

“No, she only agreed to talk to you. You’ll understand why when you talk to her.” Simmons says as they walked down the stairs.

“She’s in there.” Simmons says pointing to the back seat of the car.

“The back seat of the car?” May asks confused.

“She said it’s the only place she feel’s safe.” Simmons explains “I’ll wait out here.” She says as May opens the door and climbs in the back seat.

* * *

 

As soon as May climbs in the backseat and see’s Skye she becomes even more concerned than she already was.

Just like she has been since Simmons left a few minutes easy Skye is huddled of the corner of the car trying to make herself as small as possible.

“Skye, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” May asks moving closer to her.

Skye doesn’t say a word she just reaches over, grabs her laptop, unlocks it and shows May the same thing she showed Simmons.

“You’re safe Skye. We’ll keep you safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” May tells her daughter once she finishes reading.

“If I don’t do exactly what he told me to do then he’ll kill Anna. She was the first person to look out for me. I can’t let that happen.” Skye tells her mother.

“Who’s he? Who sent this?” May asks.

“I’m not sure there are a few people who could have sent it.” Skye explains, “And all of them will do what they said they would without hesitation.” Skye tells her mother.

“We’ll stop them before that, and we will save your friend.” Melinda assures her daughter  

“They know everything, all my weakness, everything I’ve done, and everything I am scared of.” Skye tell her mother “They won’t stop until I do exactly what they want me to do.” Skye reveals.

“Then we’ll stop them.” May tells her daughter moving closer to her and putting her arms around her “We will find them and we will stop them. We’ll keep you safe Skye.” May tells her daughter.

“What if you can’t?” Skye asks in a quiet voice.

“We will.” May assures, holding Skye closer. “I’ve got you, it’ll be okay, and you’ll be okay.” May tells her daughter as she holds her as she can feel that she is still shaking in fear.

“Do you want to come upstairs so that we can talk to your Dad?” May asks her daughter several minutes later.

“I kinda want to stay in here for a while longer.” Skye admits “I feel safe.” She explains.

“You’re safe here Skye.” May tells her daughter “We’re in the air, no one can hurt you.” May tells her daughter.

“I don’t feel safe.” Skye admits quietly “Can you go tell Coulson? I just want to stay in here for a while.” She explains.

May debates for a little while what she should do, a very large part of her wants to stay with Skye and hold her until she feels safe but another part of her knows that the only way for Skye to actually be safe is if she goes and talks to Coulson and finds out who sent the email.

“Yeah, I can do that.” May tells her daughter once she finally makes her decision “Simmons’ is still outside, I’ll get her to come sit with you.” May tells Skye “Do you mind if I take this?” May asks referring to the laptop.

“No.” Skye tells her.                                                                                                                                 

“I’ll be back once I talk to Coulson.” May says removing her arms from around Skye and exiting the car.

As soon as she saw the door open Simmons walks over to May. “Stay with her.” May tells her. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”

“Of course.” Simmons responds.

“Thank you.” May tells her before heading upstairs as Simmons climbs in the back of the car.

* * *

 

Once May gets to the third level of the plane she places the laptop down in Coulson’s office then walks past Coulson’s closet and into his bedroom which is directly across from his office.  

“Phil wake up.” Melinda says as she shakes Coulson awake after turning on the light.

“Huh, Melinda? What’s wrong?” He asks confused, wondering why his ex-wife is waking him up.

“Get up, there’s something you need to see.” May says before leaving the room walking back over to his office.

“Melinda, what is going on?” Coulson asks confused “Why are you waking me at three thirty in the morning?” he asks then notices Skye’s laptop sitting open on his desk “What’s Skye’s laptop doing here?”

“Read what she got an hour ago.” May tells him simply.

Confused Coulson looks down and reads the open page as he does Melinda can see him getting furious “Where is she?” He asks worried.

“Down in the backseat of the car, she won’t leave there. Simmons is with her.” May explains.

“It reminds her of her van.” Coulson mutters to himself.

“What?” May asks.

“She likes it down there because it reminds her of her van.” Coulson explains “How is she?”  He asks worried.

“Not good, really not good.” May explains.

“How’d you know?” Coulson asks interested.

“Simmons came and got me.” May explains, “I’m guessing that Skye showed Simmons and then Simmons came and got me.”

“Does she say who’s behind this?” Coulson asks assuming that because the email is signed with ‘You know who I am’ that she does.

“She said there are a few people who could have sent it and that all of the possibilities will follow through on the threats without hesitation.” May explains.

“No, I will not let that happen.” Coulson says angrily “No one will touch her, I won’t let them.” He says.

“Look Simmons said something when she came and got me, she said that Skye only agreed to talk to me first, I think it’s because she was afraid of how you’ll react. So when we go down there you can’t show her how angry you are Phil. You’ve got to control your anger.” May explains.

“She’s afraid of me?” Coulson asks his voice barely above a whisper.

“No, of course not.” May assures him, “That’s not what I said. She’s afraid to see you angry, but she’s not afraid of you.” May explains to him.

“What do you know that I don’t?” Coulson asks having a feeling like he is missing something.

“Something she’ll tell you when she’s ready.” May tells him.

“Melinda, what is it?” Coulson asks worried.

“Not my place to say.” Melinda explains to him. “She told me what she did in confidence, I can’t break that.” She explains.

“Melinda…” Coulson begins to say but she cuts him off. “Phil, don’t. Come on, our daughter needs us.” Melinda says before leaving his office.

As Coulson follows Melinda he can’t help but worry and wonder what he is missing.

When they get down to the cargo area May knocks on the window to let Simmon’s know that they are back.

“How is she?” Melinda asks Simmons in a quite whisper.

“The same.” Simmons whispers back.

“The laptop is up in my office, go get it and wake Fitz and Ward. Let them know what is going on. Work on tracing who sent the email.” Coulson tells her and he climbs in the car. May allowing him to go in first so that he is sitting next to Skye.

“Yes Sir.” Simmons says before heading upstairs.

* * *

 

Once she gets upstairs Simmons gets the laptop first. Once she does she connects it to the monitor in the command centre so that the email is on the screen. She first heads to Fitz’s bunk first because she knows that he is rather difficult to wake up.

“Fitz wake up.” Jemma says shaking him, “Fitz come on.” Jemma says continuing to shake him trying to get him to wake up.

“Jemma? What’s going on?” Fitz asks confused.

“Get up, I’ll see you in the command centre in a couple of minutes, it’s really important.” Jemma tells her best friend before leaving his bunk and walking over to Wards.

“Agent Ward.” Simmons asks using the same method he used to wake up May earlier and just like May he wakes up relatively easily.

“Simmons, what’s going on?” He ask.

“You’re needed in the Command Centre now. Agent’s Coulson’s orders.” Simmons says leaving the command centre “FITZ COME ON.” Simmons says loudly when she walks past his bunk.

“Why does Coulson want us in the command centre at three thirty in the morning?” Ward asks walking into the Command centre, Fitz right behind him. “What’s this?” He asks referring to the email that is on the screen.

“This is why Coulson wanted you in the Command Centre at three thirty in the morning. It’s an email Skye got an hour ago.” She explains.

“Where is she?” Ward asks worried the second he finishes reading the email.

“Downstairs with May and Coulson, she won’t leave the backseat of the car.” Simmons explains.

“Who sent it? Has she told us their name?” Ward ask curious.

“No. She isn’t completely sure who sent it. She said that there are five people who could have sent it. All of whom would deliver on the threats.” Simmons explains.

“Can you trace it?” Ward asks Fitz.

“I can try, but they’re Rising Tide. If they are anywhere near as good as Skye or Miles then I have no chance.” Fitz explains.

“Just do it.” Ward tells him “We need to find out who is behind this and cross them off.” He says staring at the screen.

* * *

 

As he gets in the backseat of the car Coulson slides over so that he is sitting right next to Skye.

“Hi.” Coulson says to her.

“Hey, AC.” Skye responds.

“Simmons is waking Ward and Fitz. We’ll find who sent the email.” Coulson tells his daughter. “We’ll keep you safe.” He tells her.

“I should have realised that this was coming.” Skye says quietly “I should have known that they would have figured out what I was doing eventually.”

“No one knew you were going to join S.H.I.E.L.D to find out more about us?” Coulson asks curious.

“No one except Miles.” Skye explains.

“And what about this Anna? How does she fit in?” Coulson asks.

“She’s a friend.” Skye says, “Before I meet all of you she was the only person who truly looked out for me. I haven’t spoken to her in almost two years because, well, because of Miles, she didn’t like him, she thought he was no good, a bad influence and I didn’t listen.” Skye admits “She was just trying to look out for me and now she might die.” Skye says tears coming to her eyes as she thinks what might happen to her friend because of her.

“We’ll get her back Skye.” Coulson says putting his arm around her and pulling her into his side.

“Fitz won’t be able to trace the email without me. I know all of the people who could have sent it and they are all really good, but I just... I just want to stay here a little while longer.” Skye tells her parents. As while she knows that soon enough she is going to have to get out of the back seat and the safety it provides she’s not quite ready to at the moment.

“Of course.” Coulson says.

“We’re right here with you.” May tells her daughter.

* * *

 

While Skye, May and Coulson are downstairs FitzSimmons and Ward are working on trying to trace the email.

“You were with her, how is she?” Ward asks Simmons interested and worried for his friend.

“Do you remember how scared she was when Coulson was hurt?” Simmons asks.

“Of course.” Ward responds.

“We’ll she’s worse now. She’s petrified.“ Simmons explains looking scared for her friend.

“We’ll keep her safe.” Ward tells her.                        

“How?” Simmons asks “If she doesn’t do what they want her then they will kill her friend and come after her and release everything she doesn’t want known, and if she does do what they want, turn herself into them with information about S.H.I.E.L.D they will administer the sentence for her crimes, whatever that means. How do we keep her safe from that?” Simmons asks Ward as while she meant what she said to Skye that they will protect her she has no idea how exactly they will.

“We’ll find another way.” Ward tells her “We’ll protect Skye and save her friend. May and Coulson aren’t just going to let her get hurt, and neither am I.” He tells her and Simmons gives a small nod “Fitz it’s been an hour. Why haven’t you traced it by now?”

“Because they’re good. They are using encryption that I haven’t even seen before to hide their location. I can’t break it.” He says looking up at Ward and Simmons “Skye is the only one on this bus who has a chance of being able to tell us who sent this email and from where.” Fitz explains. “We need Skye.” He says looking up from the computer.

“Well talk about prefect timing, I’m here.” Skye says walking into the command centre, Coulson and May right behind her.

“Are you sure…” Ward beings to say but Skye cuts her off.

“If we’re going to save Anna then were going to need to know which of my former friends is behind this.” Skye explains “And like Fitz just said I’m the only one who can.” Skye says as she starts typing, he parents walking over and standing either side of her as she does.

“That son of a bitch.” Skye says angrily several minutes later.

“What is it?” Coulson asks “Who sent it?”

“I don’t know… yet.” Skye says “But whoever sent whoever sent it used my own encryption to hide their location.” She explains.

“That’s why I couldn’t get into it.” Fitz says now understanding why he couldn’t break the encryption, Skye is just too good.

“There’s something odd about this.” Skye mutters to herself but she is loud enough so that everyone else can hear.

“What do you mean?” May asks curious.

“I created this encryption a really long time ago, like years, I was still a teenager when I did.” She explains.

“I couldn’t break an encryption you created when you were a teenager?” Fitz asks surprised.

“Sorry Fitz, but I’m that good.” Skye tells him “My point is whoever sent this email wanted to be sure that no one else could find their location but that I would know exactly who they are.”

“What do you mean?” Coulson asks, not understanding a lot of what his daughter is saying. 

“When I wrote this encryption I was experimenting with things, seeing just what I could do. Embedded into the end of the encryption is a code to highjack the webcam at the time of the email being sent and take a picture of who was sending it. That file is embedded into the encryption.” Skye explains.

“Are you saying that you can show us a picture of who sent the email?” Coulson asks wanting to make sure that he is understanding right.

“In about twenty seconds I can.” Skye says beginning to type faster “Done, that’s who sent me the email.” Skye says less than twenty seconds later, her face losing all its colour and fear taking its place the second the image of the person who sent the email appears on the screen.

“Skye what is it? Who is he?” Melinda asks looking up at the photo of the person who sent Skye the email and seeing her daughter’s reaction she knows that it’s not going to be good.

“His name is Samuel Lard.” Skye explains, not looking away from the picture.

“FitzSimmons.” Coulson says.

“On it.” They reply both starting to try and find everything they can on the man.

“Skye what is it?” May asks putting a hand on her daughters shoulder, wondering and worried about who the man is because Skye looks more terrified than she has all morning just looking at the picture.

“Do you remember the picture you found?” Skye asks her mother.

“Yes.” May answers knowing she will never forget that photo “What about it?” Melinda asks confused while Coulson just watches his ex-wife and daughter having no idea what they are taking about, but wondering if it has something to do with what Melinda wouldn’t tell him earlier.

“He’s the one who caused it.” Skye explains “I had no idea that he was a part of Rising Tide.” She says.

“If you didn’t know he was a part of Rising Tide then who is he?” Ward asks “How do you know him?”

“He’s someone I knew, a really long time ago.” She explains, “Excuse me.” Skye says looking away from the picture for the first time and leaving the room.

“Skye.” Coulson says and attempts to follow her but May stops him “Not a good idea, trust me.” She tells him “Let me.” She says letting go of Coulson’s arm and following their daughter out of the room. Leaving a very confused Coulson with the team in the command centre.

 

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	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

After leaving the Command Centre Skye goes straight to her bunk, she leaves her door open when she does because she is positive that May followed her.  Skye sits down on her bed and less than a minute later May sits down next to her.

“I haven’t seen him in over nine years.” Skye tells her mother as she does, “I had ran away from St. Agnes when we met, but after, after what he did I went back. It was the first time I had ever been truly, truly thankful for Nuns. That’s when I started saving for my van. After that what I wanted most was to get away.” She explains.

“I won’t let him anywhere near you Skye, we’ll figure this out.” May tells her daughter.

“This is worse than I thought was.” Skye tells her mother.  “There is nothing that he won’t do to get what he wants and if he’s joined with the Rising Tide then they just became a lot more than hackers and a lot more dangerous.” Skye explains “The five people that I thought could have sent that email are insane and reckless but they lack a leader, guidance, someone to follow. If he’s decided to be that person then this isn’t good.” Skye explains.

“Then we will stop him.” May tells her daughter putting her arm around her and pulling her into his side just like Coulson did earlier.

“He’s defiantly working with at least some of the Rising Tide members. I didn’t become friends with Anna until after I knew him.” Skye explains.

“That’s good, it gives us something to work with.” May tells her daughter “Can you tell where he was when he sent that email?” May asks curious.

“Yeah, but it won’t matter.” Skye explains “He would have gotten an alert when I broke the encryption on the email. That’s not going to be the last email we get.” Skye explains.

“How do you know?” May asks.

“Because he didn’t play enough of a game, that’s what he likes to do.” Skye explains. “We’ll hear from him again.” She says almost positive about that.

Skye says and for several minutes Skye and May just sit there not talking.

“I’ve got to tell him, don’t I?” Skye asks it being perfectly clear that the ‘him’ she is talking about isn’t Lard but Coulson because it’s said with affection instead of fear.

“Yeah you do.” May tells her “It would be better if it came from you rather than finding out from someone else, or the background check he’s having FitzSImmons run, or Lard himself when we bring him in.” May explains though she is thinking that Lard being brought in alive may not be the strongest possibility.

“I’ll tell him.” Skye says “Can you go get him?” Skye asks curious.

“Of course.” May say standing up and walking back over to the Command Centre.

“Phil.” May says as she walks back in.

“What’s going on Melinda?” He asks. “Who is this guy?”

“Skye’s going to tell you.” Melinda tells Coulson “And what she is going to tell you will make you furious but you cannot let that show.” Melinda tells him “She’s in her bunk waiting for you.” May explains.

Still confused about what is going on Coulson nods and leaves the room still wondering what Melinda’s words mean as he does.  

“Who is this guy?” Ward asks May once Coulson has left “What’s his connection to Skye?”

“FitzSimmons, check if he was charged with anything around nine years ago.” Melinda tells the scientist wanting to know if he received any punishment for what he did to her daughter.

* * *

 

Remembering what Melinda told him Coulson walks over to Skye’s bunk and sits down next to her.

“What did May tell you?” Skye asks curious a few minutes after he sat down.

“Nothing, just that you had something to tell me.” Coulson tells his daughter “Do you?”                     

“That day that I gave you a box of things I had collected over the years May found a photo that I never wanted you or her to see.” Skye explains “It was from when I was sixteen and it was what I looked like after my boyfriend at the time, my first real love, got angry.” Skye explains.

“He beat you.” Coulson using all his strength to keep the fury he is feeling out of his voice as he remembers Melinda’s words.

“Yeah, pretty baldy.” Skye answers.

“I’m sorry Skye, I’m so sorry.” Coulson tells his daughter putting his arm around her thinking that it is another way he has failed her. He should have been there to stop her from ever being hurt like that.

“It’s okay, I dealt with it a long time ago.” Skye tells him assuming that he like May when she first found out is blaming himself for not being there to help her “I just never expected to see him again.”

“He won’t come anywhere near you again. I won’t let him.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“May said the same thing.” Skye reveals with a small smile.

“Well if both of us agreed then you know it’s the truth.” Coulson tells Skye.

“Yeah I do.” Skye says as she rests her head on her father’s shoulder.

“Skye, you were right.” May says appearing at her doorway several minutes later “You just got another email. Fitz can’t even open it.” She says.

“Tell him to stop trying, I’ll be right there.” Skye tells her mother. May nods and leaves father and daughter alone knowing that they still need a few minutes together.

“Are you alright to do this?” Coulson asks.

“Yeah, I think so.” Skye tells him. “Let’s go.”

“If it gets too much just tell me.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“I will.” Skye tells him.

* * *

 

As soon as Skye enters the Command Centre she realises that FitzSimmons and Ward know what Lard did to her because both Simmons and Fitz look upset and Ward looks furious.

“So you can’t even open the email?” Skye asks Fitz, choosing to ignore the fact that they know, hoping that they don’t ask about it.

“No.” Fitz tells her “I can tell that it is the same address though, and it’s quite large.”

Skye nods and gets started on her computer, everything that she is doing appearing on the screen “It’s a video file.” She says about a minute later.

“Can you play it?” Ward asks.

“Of course, just give me a… Done.” Skye says pressing play before walking over and standing between her parents.

After Skye presses play the video spends a few seconds loading before it plays. A man in his late twenties, which everyone knows to be Samuel Lard appears. Lard is very tall and muscular has tattoos all along his right arm, dark hair, stubble and light eyes.

“Hello Skye.” Lard says and the second that he does Skye feels Coulson grab her hand “It’s been a long time. I’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time. All these years, I’ve missed you.” He reveals, “Although it took you a lot longer to hack my previous message that what I would have expected it to especially considering it was your own encryption.  I thought you must have been losing you touch until some mutual friends of ours told me that you’ve gotten even better than when I knew you.” He says with a grin that is the definition of creepy “Now to business. A few months ago I joined Rising Tide and when we learnt of your crimes there were those who were hesitant to pursue the usual course of actions but I convinced them that you can’t go unpunished and they agreed. The deal is simple you will turn yourself into me in exactly 18 hours at the coordinates attached to this email, I understand that you have access to quite the fast jet so that shouldn’t be a problem. You will have in your possession everything you have on S.H.I.E.L.D and you will be alone and from there your punishment will be decided by the Group. You will not have no form of backup, surveillance or protection, have absolutely no form of tracking on your person, no electronic devices except that file on S.H.I.E.L.D and absolutely nothing that can be used to find you” Lard demands “Now you might be thinking why would you possibly do that, I’ll show you why.” Lard says turning the camera to show a woman, with long blond hair, clearly alive but a little bruised, who looks to only be a few years older than Skye, tied to the chair.

“Anna.” Skye says her voice full of worry.

“She will be killed if you don’t do exactly what I say.” Lard says before turning the camera back to him, “But she isn’t the only one, everyone you have ever cared about, The Brody’s, Sister McKenna, Danny and Maggie, every single person who has ever meant anything to you will be killed unless you do exactly what I say, and to show you how serious I am I have a little present for you.” Lard says moving the camera to show a body on the floor, with his throat slit.

“MILES!!” Skye yells tears in her eyes, pain clear in her voice having recognized the body right away. 

“I understand he meant a lot to you. Now do you get it Skye?” Lard asks as Coulson pulls Skye into a hug as she begins to cry into his chest. “I’m not bluffing, everyone you have ever cared about will die unless you turn yourself into me, do that and the girl can go free and everyone else will be safe.” He says “Oh and one more thing. Before I slit his throat He mentioned that you are a part of a team now, well Team.” He says in a mocking tone of voice “If you’re listening. If you think about helping Skye, if you think about trying to track her in anyway or proving any form of back up I will kill her. If anyone but Skye comes to the coordinates then I will kill them, this girl and Skye, oh and if you think that maybe you can kill me before I manage to kill any of your people ask Skye about the conversation she overheard. Appearing before the group gives Skye a chance of surviving, especially if what she brings is good, but if you intervene in any way she will be killed and that will be on you, not us.” Lard says before turning of the camera, ending the video.

Everyone in the room is standing in shocked silence, the only sounds that can be heard are that of Skye’s cries.

(Line break)

For more than half an hour Skye cries in her father’s arms, mourning the loss of someone who was once very important to her. 

“No.” Skye suddenly says.

“Sky?” May asks her daughter concerned, as Skye finally looks up from where she is crying into her father’s arms.

“No one else is going to die because of me.” Skye announces removing her arms from around her father and wiping her eyes “If they want me then they can have me.” She says.

 

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	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

“No.”  May tells her daughter.

“No way.” Coulson adds.

“I’ve got to, otherwise people are going to die. I can’t let that happen.” Skye explains to her parents.

“And we won’t.” Coulson tells her “We have the coordinates as to where he is we can send in a strike team and take him down before he can kill anyone else.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“All those agents and Anna will be killed then.” Skye tells her father. “And likely everyone else, I doubt that Sam is doing this on his own.”  Skye says using his first name for the first time since finding out he sent the email.

“A S.H.I.E.L.D strike team is fast, Skye, and quite. They can take him down before he kills anyone.” Ward tells her.

“The reason he attacked me when we were seeing each other was because I overheard him talking about getting explosives and I asked him what he was up to instead of just getting out of there.” Skye explains “But there was no proof when the police looked into it so it wasn’t charged with anything, all he was charged with is what he did to me.” Skye explains “That’s what he meant when he said ‘ask Skye about the conversation she overheard.” She explains. “So I’m betting he has explosives in place. If anyone else goes in there they will be killed, and I won’t allow that.” Skye says.

“And we won’t allow you to just turn yourself over to him.” May tells her daughter. “He’ll kill you.”

“Maybe not. Not if you can teach me how to get out of restraints.” She explains “I know every single one of the people who will be included in the Group, every single one of them. None of them a criminal genius, yes they are hackers who occasionally break other laws, and Sam’s psychotic but none of them know a thing about keeping someone prisoner, and none of them with the exception of Sam and a couple others even know how to fight.” Skye explains “If you can teach me how to get out of most restraints then I can get myself free, handle anyone who’s guarding me and escape while you guys protect everyone else.” Skye tells her parents.

“How do you know that he won’t just kill you as soon as he sees you?” Coulson asks not even considering letting her do this but wanting to know how she can be so sure.

“Because they will want the information on S.H.I.E.L.D.” Skye explains “They care more about that than punishing me for what I have done. They won’t do anything until they have the information that they want, but the wont get it.” Skye explains “I will take with me a flash drive that I encrypted with fake files on it, files that look like the real thing, but aren’t. By the time they realise that I can be gone.” Skye explains.

“No, it’s still too risky.” May explains as Ward leads FitzSimmons out of the room to give the family a bit of privacy “What if they catch you escaping? Or what if they force you to unencrypt the flash drive and they see that it’s full of fake files. Or what if they just kill you for revenge?” May asks her daughter “It’s too dangerous, no.”

“Don’t you get it, I’ve got to do this.” Skye tells her parents her tears returning to her eyes “Too many people have died because of me, Agent Avery and her team, an entire Village and now Miles. I won’t let anyone else die or get hurt because of me.” Skye tells Coulson and May.

“Skye, we’ll find another way we will protect them, but that way won’t be you handing yourself over.” Coulson tells her daughter.

“There isn’t another way.” Skye says tears still rolling down her face “Sam’s video was clear on that. All the people that he mentioned, The Brody’s, Sister McKenna, Anna, Danny and Maggie they are all good people. The Brody’s are two loving people who take in kids who need a home, Sister McKenna has been a nun for over thirty years, Anna helps troubled teens and Danny and Maggie are two kids who I looked out for during my last few months at St Agnes and even after because they had just lost their parents and were having a hard time. The only thing any of them have done wrong is know me.” Skye explains, “I understand that you don’t want anything to happen to me, I do. But I don’t want them to die because of me. There has been enough death because of me, I won’t allow anymore, I can’t deal with anymore. I will turn myself over to him with or without your permission and help.” Skye tells her parents showing them just how much like them she really is.

“We’re in the air.” May reminds her daughter “How are you planning to go to the coordinates if I don’t fly us there?” 

“Then I’ll take a parachute and jump and then make my own way there.” Skye says having already come up with the idea “I don’t want to because the idea of jumping out of a plane frankly scares the crap out of me but I will, to protect them then I will, without hesitation.” Skye explains. “Neither of you would ever let someone else die for you so why are you asking me to?” Skye asks her parents.

May and Coulson are silent both of them know that their daughter is right, that they would never allow someone to die for them but she’s their daughter which makes it different.

“Okay.” Coulson says struggling with every syllable, more than fifteen minutes after Skye asked her parents why they are asking her to let someone die for her when they wouldn’t.

“No.” Melinda tells her ex-husband “Absolutely not. No.”

“Skye, give us a minute.” Coulson requests.

Skye nods and heads out of the room and over to FitzSimmons and Ward where as soon as she does she gets pulled into a hug by Jemma.

“I’m not going to let her do this.” Melinda tells Coulson. “And I can’t believe that you are.”

“You heard her she is going to do this no matter what. If it’s with our permission then maybe we can help to make sure she gets out alive.” Coulson explains.

“We’ll find another way.” Melinda tells Coulson “Any other way, a way which doesn’t involve her putting herself in this much danger and us letting her.”

“If you’ve got another plan than I will be more than happy to hear it.” Coulson tells her “Do you think I want to let her do this? Do you think I’m okay with her doing this? Because I’m not.” Coulson tells her “She’s my daughter too Melinda, allowing her to do this is the last thing that I want.”

“Then why are you letting her?” May asks Coulson.

 “Because we don’t have another option!” Coulson says frustrated “We send in a team and them and the people Skye cares about will be killed, Skye does anything that goes against the instructions then she’ll be killed, we help her and she will be killed. We don’t let her do this and she’ll go anyway.” Coulson says “She’s our Baby Girl, I don’t want her doing this, I want to get her as far away as possible but we can’t because then she’ll jump out of this plane and go in anyway. Just like either one of us would do in her shoes.” Coulson explains.

“If you want to let her do this then fine, but I won’t.” Melinda tells him “I will not help her to do something that most likely will get her killed.”

“Melinda if I thought forcing her not to go would work, I would in a second, but we can’t. She is just as stubborn as either of us and she cares about people as much as you do.” Coulson being so say but May cuts him off knowing where he is going.

“Don’t.” Melinda tells him knowing exactly where he is going with what he is saying.

“She’s already feeling the guilt for all the Agents and Villagers who died to protect her when she was a baby and now Miles’s death, someone from what I saw meant a whole lot to her, has been added to that. She said it herself she can’t handle any more people dying because of her. You know what that feels like to live with that every day so why would you ask our daughter to live with that as well?” Coulson asks knowing that what he is saying is completely out of line but needing to convince Melinda to allow Skye to go in because in the seventeen hours they have until the deadline Melinda is the only one who can teach Skye what she’ll need to know to maximize her chance of survival quick enough.

Without a single word Melinda walks over and punches Coulson in the face, “If anything happens to her I will never forgive you.” May tells him stressing the never as she does.

“If anything happens to her I will never forgive myself.” Coulson tells her.

“Once Skye gets the coordinates send them to me.” May says leaving the Command Centre and then walking past Skye, Ward and FitzSimmons all of whom are looking completely shocked as she makes her way to the cockpit.

“Did she just…” Ward begins to say but Skye cuts him off.

“Punch Coulson in the face? Yeah.” Skye says before walking back into the Command Centre the others right behind her.

“Are you alright?” Skye asks Coulson concerned when she sees him.

“Yeah I’m fine, it’s nothing I didn’t deserve.” He tells her knowing that the punch May just gave him wasn’t intended to hurt him just make it clear that what he said was completely out of line. “Send the coordinates through to May.” Coulson tells his daughter.

Skye nods and does just that. “Done. I’m going to go talk to her.” Skye says before leaving the room.

“Is there something you want to say Agent Ward?” Coulson asks as he can see that Ward is clearly trying not to say something.

“It’s just, I can’t believe you are letting her do this Sir.” Ward comments.

“If we don’t let her do this then she will take a parachute and jump out of this plane.” Coulson explains.

“We could sedate her until after the deadline, so that she has no choice but to stay.” Ward suggest, wanting there to be another way.

“You do that and it is guarantee that Skye will never ever trust a single one of us and likely hate us all.” Simmons tells him knowing that it’s not a good idea.

“At least she’ll be alive.” Ward comments thinking that he can handle Skye hating him if she is alive to do it.

“No you don’t understand.” Simmons tells him, “She won’t just hate us she will leave and we will never see her again, she has made herself disappear before and she will do it again and this time she will have Lard and who knows who else after her.” Simmons explains not wanting Skye to turn herself over to Lard any more than Ward does but she like Coulson knows that there is no other way.

 “That tracking smell you used on Mike Paterson, you are the only ones who can trace it, correct?” Coulson asks looking at FitzSimmons.

“Yes Sir.” FitzSimmons say.

“Then when she goes to turn herself into Lard she will have that on her.” Coulson says he is about to walk out of the room but he pauses to talk to talk to Ward “Don’t you dare think that I want her to do this, that I haven’t thought of every possible other option, because I have. This is the only play we’ve got.”  Coulson tells Ward before leaving the room.

(Line break)

After leaving the Command Centre Skye heads straight to the cockpit to talk to her mother.  She walks right into the Cockpit and sits on the chair across from her.

“I know that you don’t want me to do this and I’m sorry about whatever Coulson said that made you punch him, but I’ve got to do this, I don’t have a choice.” Skye tells her mother.

“There is always a choice Skye.” May tells her daughter.

“Your right, there is a choice my choices are do this or let a lot of good people die, and I won’t allow that.” Skye tells her mother. “I’m going in no matter what but I need your help to make sure I get out.” Skye explains to her mother “I know how to pick a lock but I’m betting that that won’t help me out of restraints, I need you to show me how too, please.” Skye requests.

“Skye..” May begins to say but Skye cuts her off.

“If there was another way, something else we could try then that’s what we would do, but there’s not.” Skye tells her mother “You guys may not have gotten the chance to raise me, but I am a Coulson, and a May, that means I’m not going to just sit on the sidelines and let others get hurt because of me, I won’t.” Skye tells her mother.

“You just…” May begins to say sounding completely shocked.

“I know.” Skye tells her mother.

“You’ve never...” May begins to say but once more Skye cuts her off.

“I know.” Skye repeats.

Without a word May gets up and walks over to her daughter and pulls her into a hug “I can’t lose you again.” May says holding Skye close to her.

“And you won’t.” Skye tells her mother “But I can’t let others die because of me.” She explains once more “I know who will be included in the group, there are very few people who even know the basics of fighting and with what Ward has taught me I know that I can get away but I don’t know how to get out of restraints. I’m going in, so please teach me how to make sure I can get out.” Skye requests.

For a long time May just holds her daughter wishing that if she holds her a little longer than maybe she will be safe.

* * *

 

“Why are you watching that again?” Fitz asks Ward who is watching the video Lard sent for the second time since Coulson left the room.

“Because it’s the only way I’ll get to know the guy.” Ward explains “If I know him I can figure out his weakness and cross him of before Skye gets hurt.”

“Have you learnt anything?” Simmons asks curious, hoping that the answer is yes.

“That he’s smart. His instructions are very clear and leave very little room for loop holes. He is obviously psychologically damaged…” Ward begins to explain but Fitz cuts him off.

“After what he did to Skye we already knew that.” Fitz says referring to the psychologically damaged part.

“Which is why I don’t understand why Coulson is letting Skye turn herself into him.” Ward comments.

“He’s doing it because no matter what he chooses there is a possibility that he will lose Skye. Doing this he has the biggest change of her staying alive. This isn’t an organization like Centipede we’re talking about this is a small group of Hackers. Skye is going to do this no matter what, we all know that once she makes up her mind, that’s it. This is the best option we have in a whole lot of bad ones.” Simmons explains to Ward and before Ward has a chance to say anything Skye and May walk past the command centre.

“Ward, with us.” May says as they do.

“I hate this.” Simmons says once Ward has left the room.

“I know.” Fitz tells her.

“I told her that I would be with her, no matter what happens.” Simmons says to Fitz quietly “But I can’t, if I even try then they will kill her.”  

“Skye know that if you could be with her you could.” Fitz tells his friend.

“I feel useless, there is nothing I can do to help her.” Simmons comments.

“We can double and triple check the tracker, that’s what we can do to help.” Fitz tells his friend “Skye is down with May and Ward learning how to escape, she’ll be as prepared as she can be, so it’s up to us to make sure we can find her once she manages to escape.” Fitz explains.

“You’re right.” Simmons says “Let’s go.” Simmons says knowing that she isn’t as useless to her friend as she thought she was.

* * *

 

Up in his office Coulson is sitting at his desk trying to think of another option, trying to think of anything that won’t involve his daughter turning herself in alone, but he keeps coming up with nothing. Every idea he can come up with violates Lard’s rules in some way and will end with death.

He hates that he agreed to let Skye turn herself in and if he was in May’s shoes after what he said he would have punched him as well. Needing to do something Coulson gets up and heads down to the Cargo bay where he assumes Skye is, hoping to help her to learn what she is going to need to get out of the situation safety.

* * *

 

For most of the day and evening Skye learns from her parents and Ward. While they are teaching it is more than clear that none of them want her to go but at the same time they want her to know as much as possible so they are very intense with their teaching and thankfully after a few hiccups Skye manages to pick it up pretty fast.

“Okay, time.” May says as Skye manages to once more get out of being tied to a chair.

“What do you mean time?” Skye asks puffing, clearly out of breath “We’ve still got a few hours before the deadline.” She comments as she collects a bottle of water which Coulson hands her.

“Exactly.” May tells her daughter “Soon enough you’re going to have to do all this for real which means you are going to need your energy and strength.” May explains “We’re going to be landing in about an hour at an air field five miles from the location. Then it will be another two hours until the deadline. You need to rest before then, you’ve learnt all you can now. If we continue to try and teach you then we will just overload you.” May explains.

“But I’m not ready yet. I’ve still got issues trying to get out of the zip ties.” Skye says looking between her mother and father.

“Skye, you’ve done incredibly well today but Melinda’s right. If we try to teach you more you will forget what you have learnt.” Coulson explains, “Have a shower, rest up, and have some food.”

“But..” Skye begins to say Coulson cuts her off.

“If you don’t think your skills are where they need to be and if you don’t want to do this anymore then you don’t have to.” Coulson tells her hoping that she will tell him that she doesn’t want to hand herself over “We’ll find another way.” He tells her.

“We’ve already talked about this, there is no other way.” Skye reminds him “I guess a break would be good though. I’ve still got to get the flash drive ready and that will take about an hour. Which reminds me I’ve got to run an idea I had by Fitz.” She says grabbing a towel and heading into the lab leaving, May, Ward and Coulson outside.

* * *

 

When Skye enters the lab Fitz and Simmons are once more checking the sent tracking.

“Haven’t you guys been checking that all day?” Skye asks them curious.

“We just wanted to make sure that is completely perfect, we don’t want to take any chances.” Simmons explains.

“I appreciate that, but I’m still not sure if I should have it. Sam said no form of tracking or he would kill me and everyone else, this counts as a form of tracking.” Skye points out as Ward enters the lab.

“He won’t be able to tell that it’s there.” Simmons explains “The only people who even know that I developed this are the people on this plane.” She points out.

“And Mike Peterson.” Ward reminds her.

“True.” Simmons admits “But there is no way that Rising Tide could have found out about it and even if by some random chance they did then then they wouldn’t even be able to tell that you had it on you.” Simmons explains “He will never realise Skye.” Simmons assures.

“Okay, cool.” Skye says feeling okay with the idea now “I had a question for you.” She says looking at Fitz “I have a code to hide files in a flash drive but do you have anything that could hide a GPS?” Skye asks curious “Because that way once I’m clear you can find Sam and the others or if the smell thing doesn’t work you guys could find me.” Skye asks

“You’re worried about have an odourless sent on you but you are not worried about hiding a GPS, in a Flash Drive full of encrypted fake files?” Ward asks her surprised.

“Between me and Fitz we can make the files look real enough for me to have time to escape and you guys to get to me, or if I can’t, if Fitz has a way to hide a GPS in a Flash Drive then you guys can just find me with that and the tracking smell.” Skye explains “I just need to buy enough time so that the people who have been threatened can be protected.” Skye explains. “So can you do it?” She asks looking at Fitz.

“Already have.” Fitz says pulling out a flash drive “GPS hidden in the files, completely full of files that look like they are S.H.I.E.L.D documents but are actually nothing. I’ve added my own encryption but it needs yours.” Fitz tells.

“Thanks Fitz, really.” Skye tells him with a grateful smile “I’ll do that now.” She says as she walks over and sits down at a computer.

“You don’t have to do this.” Ward tells Skye.

“In case I haven’t said it enough today, yes I do.” Skye tells him.

“Skye…” Ward begins to say but he gets cut off.

“Miles is dead because of me, do you get that?” Skye asks, looking upset, “If I don’t do this then more people will and I won’t let that happen. I get that you’re worried about me and so is Coulson and so is May but I’ve got to do this and none of you will talk me out of it. It’s as simple as that.” Skye tells Ward “I’m going to finish this upstairs.” She says ejecting the Flash drive from the computer and leaving the lap.

“She is so frustrating.” Ward says once Skye leaves causing Fitz and Simmons share a knowing look.

“She defiantly inherited both of her parent’s nobility.” Simmons comments.

“More like their stupidity.” Ward mutters.

“You do realise you just called Agents Coulson and May stupid right?” Fitz asks him.

“No, I just, this is so frustrating.” Ward says clearly annoyed before leaving the lab.

“I really wouldn’t want to be him when Coulson realises Ward’s got a thing for his daughter.” Fitz comments which causes Jemma to give a small laugh exactly the reaction Fitz was hoping for.

* * *

 

An hour before Lard’s deadline the entire team is in the Command Centre.

“The Location is a warehouse five miles from here, according to satellite there is no vehicles there currently but that could change.  We’ll leave here in two teams.” Coulson says “Skye you will be with Melinda and I the rest of you will be in the surveillance truck.” He says “Lard’s instructions were very clear so we can’t have any surveillance, or coms, or back up in any way which is why we will use the sent.” Coulson says to Skye “We will drive to a block away from the location and park, you will walk from there.” Coulson explains. “Once you’re in we will wait fifteen minutes to ensure the exchange of you for Anna has occurred then we will send teams to the people who are threatened. Once they are safe we’ll get you out.”

“But I might get the chance to get myself out by then.” Skye comments “Do I wait for you or do I take it?”

“If you have a chance of getting out you take it.” May tells her daughter, “Don’t worry about us just get yourself to safety.”

“You’ll still have the tracking on you so that if for some reason once you escape but you can’t get back to us we can get to you.” Simmons tells her and Skye nods.

“Did you finish encrypting the drive?” Ward asks Skye.

“Of course. It will take them at the very least a couple of days to get into it.” Skye explains “They won’t want me to encrypt it for them at first because they would be worried that I would delete the files, that’s when I’ll get my chance.” Skye explains. “Nothing will be done to me until after the Group has met so I’ll have a window.”

“Make sure you use it.” Ward tells Skye who nods.

* * *

 

Forty minutes later the group arrive at an Alley which is a block away from the warehouse where Skye is to turn herself over.

“You don’t have to do this.” Melinda tells her daughter once more trying to get her not to go.

“Yes I do.” Skye says getting out of the car May and Coulson doing the same.

“We’ll follow you.” Coulson tells Skye as Fitz and Simmons put the tracking sent on Sky’s hand “No matter where you go, we’ll follow.”

“I know you will.” Skye tells her father “Just make sure Anna and everyone else is okay.” Skye tells her father.

“We will. Just make sure that you are.” Coulson tells her.

“I will be.” Skye assure her father.

“You better be.” Coulson says pulling his daughter into a hug “Come back aright and I’ll let you drive Lola.” He whispers into her ear.

“Seriously?” Skye asks both excited and completely surprised.

“As long as you stick to your end of the bargain.” Coulson tells her breaking the hug “Come back to us okay.”

“I will.” Skye tells her Dad.

“You better.” May says pulling her in for a hug “Remember don’t panic, stay calm and think.” May tells her daughter needing to give her one last piece of advice.

“Melinda, it’s time.” Coulson says several minutes later when May hasn’t let go of Skye.

“I’ve got to go.” Skye tells her mother when it seems like she isn’t going to let go. “This isn’t goodbye, it’s see you later, I will come back to you guys. I have once, I’ll do it again.” Skye tells Melinda as she reluctantly lets her go.

“Be careful.” Coulson tells her “And we….” Coulson begins to say but Skye cuts him of.

“No, not now.” Skye tells her father pretty sure that she knows what he is about to say, “Tell me when once everyone’s safe and I’m home.” Skye tells her father. “See you later guys.” She says to Ward and FitzSimmons but before she can walk away she finds herself getting pulled into a quick hug by FitzSimmons.

“Okay, it’s really time for me to go.” Skye tells them ending the hug “I’ll see you later.” Skye says looking directly at her parents before she turns and walks away.

“She called the plane home.” Melinda says as she watches her daughter walk away.

“Yeah, she did.” Coulson replies surprised by what her daughter said “Let’s make sure she gets back to it. FitzSimmons.”

“Starting tracking Sir.” Simmons say and they climb into the back of the van leaving the door open as they do.

* * *

 

“Deep breath Skye, remember what you were told.” Skye says as she walks away from her parents and friends, and now that they can’t see her she isn’t the picture of confidence that she appeared to be in front of them.

Sky walks for a couple of minutes until she arrives at the warehouse that the coordinates led her to. After pausing to take a deep breath, preparing herself to face someone she never wanted to see again, Skye pushes open the door and enters.

As she enters she sees a male figure standing twenty meters in, “I came.”  She says. “Where’s Anna.”

“So you did, I’m glad.” Samuel Lard says “But I have to be honest, it wasn’t the Rising Tide who wanted you.” He admits.

“Then who was it?” Skye ask as she tries to make it as unnoticeable as possible that she is taking steps back.

Before Samuel can respond there is the pop of a silenced gun firing and Samuel falls to the ground “It was me. Skye, it’s been a while.” Ian Quinn says stepping out from the shadows holding the gun with a silencer on the end.

Before Skye can do anything she finds both of her arms being held back by two men, she doesn’t recognize their faces but when she looks at their arms she sees Centipede on both of them.

Even though she knows that it is useless from the second the super soldiers grab her arms Skye fights them, trying to get away because she knows that whatever Quinn with Centipede soldiers want her for can’t be good. She attempts to twist her left arm out of the soldiers grasp but at the same time that she does he tightens his hold. As soon as she twists her arm there a loud crack that echoes around the empty warehouse and Skye feels a blinding pain in her arm and she screams out in pain but her scream isn’t heard because the second of the crack was heard one of the soldiers covered Skye’s mouth to assure that she wouldn’t be heard.

Once the soldiers get Skye, who despite the pain in her arm didn’t stop fighting, to Quinn, he injects her with a sedative, takes the flash drive out of her pocket and drops it by Lard’s body as the soldiers carry Skye to a room out the back of room that Skye entered through where there is a black helicopter waiting.

“I understand that S.H.I.E.L.D has developed an odourless way of tracking, this will prevent that.” Quinn tells the soldiers before picking up several buckets of liquid and pouring them over Skye. “Get her in the chopper, we only have minutes now.” Quinn says, pressing a button that removes the roof form above them. Knowing that they have very, very little time before a S.H.I.E.L.D team storms the warehouse, especially considering who Skye is, he quickly get in the back next to where the soldiers placed Skye while the soldiers themselves get in the front.

* * *

 

It has been more than five minutes since Skye left Fitz, Simmons, Ward and May. Simmons and Fitz are sitting inside the Van with Ward in the front seat while May and Coulson are standing outside.

“Is she still at the warehouse?” Coulson asks.

“Yes sir.” FitzSimmons reply and the group goes back to silence.

“No, no, no FITZ!” Simmons suddenly yells about a minute later.

“What’s wrong?” May and Coulson asks panic clean in both their voices.

“We’ve lost the signal.” Fitz explains.

“How’s that possible?” Ward ask.

“It shouldn’t be.” Simmons tells him.

Without a word just a look exchange between them Coulson and May run towards the warehouse, Ward and FitzSimmons not far behind them.

They just get to the warehouse when they hear the sound of a helicopter, which is taking off from, it almost seems like, inside the warehouse.

“Call for Backup. WE NEED SATELIGHT SUPPORT NOW.” Coulson orders Wards as he and May enter the warehouse both hoping that they will find their daughter but at the same time they are both positive that she was in that helicopter.

“Look.” Coulson says pointing to where they can see a figure on the ground when they enter the warehouse but as they are too far away they can’t see who it is.

“SKYE.” Melinda yells running towards the figure.

“It’s not her.” Coulson says once he gets to the body.

“It’s Lard.” May says relieved that it’s not Skye.

“Dead. Which means he wasn’t in change.” Coulson realises “There is someone else behind this, someone who didn’t care about information or revenge.” Coulson says as he notices the Flash Drive that Skye brought with her on the floor.

“They wanted Skye.” Melinda realises.

 

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	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

* * *

 

“Satellite will be at least an hour Sir.” Ward says entering the warehouse minutes after Coulson and May found the body.

“We can’t wait that long.” Coulson tells him sounding frustrated.

“Sorry Sir, it was the best I could do.” Ward tells him “Any sign of her?” He asks.

“No.” Coulson says “But Lard’s dead and the flash drive’s here which makes me think that whoever is behind this only wanted Skye that they didn’t care about anything else.” Coulson comments.

“Does this seem a little bit familiar to anyone?” Fitz asks the others curious.

“What do you mean?” Coulson asks.

“Fake hostage exchange, one of our own disappearing in a helicopter. I don’t know about you but I’m getting a sense of Déjà vu.” Fitz explains.

 “It is a little too similar to what happened to you.” Ward comments looking at Coulson, “But why would what’s left of Centipede want Skye?” He ask confused.

“Sir, you don’t think? Do you?” Simmons asks Coulson looking terrified as she remembers what Skye told her when she first found out about Coulson and May being her parents and what it would mean for Skye if that was the reason she was taken.

“It’s possible.” Coulson comments knowing exactly what Simmons Is thinking.

“What’s possible?” Ward asks confused but assuming by the looks on both Coulson’s and Simmons faces that it’s not good.

“There is a possibility that Skye could have powers.” Coulson explains to him “Send out alerts make sure everyone is on lookout for that helicopter.” Coulson tells Ward “FitzSimmons I want this entire warehouse swept, find out what happened.” He orders.

“Yes Sir.” The three reply and they get to work why Coulson walks over to May who hasn’t said a single word or moved at all since they realised that this whole thing was a trap to get Skye.

“Melinda.” Coulson says concerned. “Melinda.” Coulson repeats and Melinda doesn’t say anything. “Melinda, can you hear me?” Coulson asks but he receives no response.

“Melinda.” Coulson repeats tentatively reaching out and putting one of his hands on her shoulders which turns out to be a mistake as due to reflex Melinda grabs his arm and flips him onto his back as soon as he does.

“Good, you had me worried.” Coulson says standing back up actually glad to have been flipped onto his back because at least it means that Melinda is well, not okay considering everything, but better than he thought she was. “Melinda.” Coulson begins to say but May cuts him off.

“I’m going to go see how FitzSimmons are doing.” She says Walking away from Coulson as the last thing she wants at the moment is to talk to him.

* * *

 

Twenty minutes later FitzSimmons, Ward, May and Coulson are back at the Plane. They collected everything that was off use from the warehouse and headed back to the Plane as it’s where they can make the most progress. Coulson and May are down in the lab getting an update from FItzSimmons on what they have found while Ward is upstairs coordinating the search for the helicopter. 

“What did you find?” Coulson asks the two scientists.

“We know why the sent stopped working.” Simmons tells him.

“Why?” May asks.

“In the area where the helicopter was kept there were buckets, several of them. All of them were empty but going by the residue they were all full of different things. One was full of plan normal water, another was full of warm soap water and the third was full of lavender scented soap and water, out best guess is whoever took Skye poured all of that over her to get rid of the sent.” Simmons explains.

“And it worked.” Coulson mutters.

“Did you find anything else?” May asks the pair.

“Yes. There was a figure print on the flash drive were just waiting for it to finish running.” Fitz tells them.

“Let us know as soon as you get a result.” Coulson says and as soon as he does there is a beep from the computer.

“We’ve got a match.” Simmons announces “It’s Ian Quinn.” She informs Coulson.

“Ward, Quinn took Skye. I want all of his of aircrafts found and grounded, and I want him.” Coulson informs Ward.

“Yes Sir, I’m on it.” Ward tells him “Director Fury is on standby Sir, he wants to know what is going on.”

“Good, I was just about to call him myself.” Coulson tells Ward, “I’ll be right up.” He says.

“Find Quinn.” He tells FitzSimmons. “You coming?” Coulson asks May.

“Of course.” Melinda responds and the pair head up to the Command Centre.

* * *

 

“Go help FitzSimmons.” Coulson says to Ward as he and May enter the Command Centre.

Ward nods and leaves the Command centre as Coulson connects the Call.

“Coulson what is going on? You had three teams on standby plus a strike team and now your requesting satellite time and have calls out to every agency to be on the lookout for a helicopter? What are you playing at?” Fury asks angrily.

“I need to know something first, Sir.” Coulson says “In April of 1989 when you sent a team into the Hunan Province in China to investigate a 0-8-4 Baby Girl did you know that that baby was my daughter?” Coulson asks.

“You’re what?” What are you talking about?” Fury asks confused.

“The team you sent into China consisted of Linda Avery, Agent Lumley and at least four other agents. All the agents with the exception of Lumley were murdered. The baby Girl was left at St. Agnes orphanage and the foster system was ordered to make sure she never stayed in one place for too long. That baby girl is the consultant I took onto this plane Skye, and as we found out six weeks ago our daughter. So I need to know, did you know Sir?” Coulson asks fighting to keep his voice calm.

“May’s alive?” Fury asks and it is clear that he didn’t know as even though Fury is one of the best liars there is there is no way to fake the emotion that he has on his face, or in his voice in that moment.

“You didn’t know.” May realises.

“No.” Fury says still clearly surprised “I sent the team into China when we got word of a baby with possible power because I thought that whatever gave the baby powers could have been the same people who took May. I didn’t even know that the baby survived until two minutes ago,  I believe that she along with the team were killed, it was a few weeks after that I told you both that I believed May was dead because whatever had gave that baby girl powers was my last lead on what could have happened to May. How did you find out?” Fury asks still surprised.

“Skye was curious about her parents because all she had ever been able to find on them is a single piece of paper retracted by S.H.I.E.L.D so I told her that I would look into it. I found out about Avery was the one who dropped her off at the orphanage and her death but I didn’t find out any more than that. Melinda looked into it and we were able to speak to the only surviving member of the team and found out the rest. We were told that there was a nearly invisible protocol in place to keep the baby safe, I’m guessing it was so good that not even you found about it.” Coulson explains “After hearing the story I had a suspicion so I collected a sample of mine, Skye’s and Melinda’s DNA and I got Simmons to run it and I found out that Skye is May.” Coulson explains.

“I don’t know what to say. If I knew the baby was May I would have told you.” Fury tells Coulson and May.

Melinda and Coulson exchange a look both wanting to believe Fury as it seems like he is telling the truth but at the same time after everything that has happened and what they know he has kept from them it is hard to.

“If you wanted to know if knew about all this why did you wait six weeks?” Fury asks curious.

“Because I wanted to ask you in person. After what the surviving Agent told us we believed she was still in danger so I didn’t want to talk to you over video conference about this.” Coulson explains. “But circumstances has changed.” He adds.

“What happened? What changed?” Fury asks curious.

“Skye’s been kidnapped.” May explains. “She received an email video this morning from an old boyfriend who had abused her in the past threatening to kill people that Skye cares about unless she turns herself over to him and by extension the Rising Tide with a file on S.H.I.E.L.D. As proof about how serious he showed Skye her ex-boyfriend dead on the floor and a very good friend of hers tied to a chair.” May explains “He threatened to kill Skye’s friends if she didn’t turn herself over to her. If we sent in a strike team he said he would kill them all, Skye said that she knew that he had access to explosives. If Skye had backup or any type of surveillance or tacking she and the people she cared about who have been killed. Skye said that she was going to turn herself in no matter what, even said that she would jump out of the plane if we didn’t take her to the location. So Coulson, Agent Ward and I spent all day teaching her to escape all kinds of restraints because she was certain that she had a gap between giving her ex-boyfriend and the Rising Tide members the files and them deciding what to do with her which she could use to escape. She turned herself over to him forty minutes ago but ten minutes after she did the sent tracking that FitzSimmons put on her stopped working. We approached the warehouse that Skye went into and as we did we saw a black helicopter taking off from it seemed like inside. When we entered the warehouse we found no sign of Skye but we did find the body of the person who was threatening her and the flash drive that Skye and Fitz filled with fake files and a hidden GPS tracker near the body. We realised that this whole thing was just a trap to get Skye using her history in Rising Tide to do it.” May explains.

“Do you have any leads?” Fury asks.

“FitzSimmons found a fingerprint on the flash drive that was left at the warehouse, they ran it and it belonged to Ian Quinn, we believe that he’s the one who took her, possibly on the Clairvoyant’s orders.” Coulson tells his boss and friend.

“Well Ian Quinn just made it to the top of S.H.I.E.L.D’s most wanted list.” Fury informs May and Coulson “I will help in any way I can, anything and everything you need will be at your disposal.” Fury informs May and Coulson as due to the fact that very, very few S.H.I.E.L.D agents have kids and the fact that May or Skye as he guesses she now goes by is the daughter of two of his most valued agents and Friends he has a soft spot for the girl, so much so that he since she was born he has considered himself her unofficial godfather something that he hasn’t really done a good job of being.

“Thank you sir.” May and Coulson tell him.

“Sir, is Agent Hill still working out of Europe?” Coulson asks Curious.

“Yes, why?” Fury asks curious.

“Quinn is a citizen of Malta, he could be trying to get Skye there where S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t have jurisdiction. Agent Hill is a lot closer than us. She may be able to stop him before gets her there if we can’t on this end.” Coulson explains.

“Of course, permission to tell Maria Skye’s real identity?” Fury asks.

“Granted.” May and Coulson say after exchanging a look both knowing that they can trust Hill because she is a friend to both of them and has been for a while.

“Sorry to interrupt but we’ve found the helicopter.” Ward says running into the command centre with FitzSimmons right behind him.

“Tell us.” Coulson, May and Director Fury all say at the same time.

“The Helicopter landed at a private airport fifteen minutes ago, since then seven different planes have taken off. We’re working on getting the flight manifests and destinations on each as well as the security footage so that we can figure out which one Quinn and Skye are on, but that’s going to take time.” Ward explains.

“You’ll have everything you need within the hour Agent Ward.” Fury informs him “Phil, Melinda. I’ll have teams standing by.” Director Fury informs the group before ending the video conference.

“Sir?” Ward asks Coulson surprised by Fury’s response.

“Director Fury was the first person after Melinda and me to hold Skye after she was born. He’s always had a bit of a soft spot for her.” Coulson explains. “Let me know as soon as you get the flight details and security footage.” Coulson says before leaving the Command Centre and heading up to his office. May also leave the room without a word but she heads to her bunk.

“What do we do?” Fitz asks.

“Follow any leads on Quinn that we’ve got.” Ward tells him “We need to find Skye, and Quinn is the only lead we’ve got.” Ward tells the pair.

“Do you think May and Coulson will be alight?” Simmons asks concerned.

“Their daughter has been kidnapped for the second time in twenty five years just when they have gotten her back. They’re far from okay.” Ward reminds her “We’ve got to find Skye.” He says.

* * *

 

Up in his office Coulson is staring at two things the first is a bottle of scotch and the second is a framed picture that he has pulled out of his draw. He took the picture a few weeks ago on his phone and got Fitz to print it off for him. The photo is of May and Skye doing Tai-Chi together both of them having smiles on their faces because Skye had just said that she would take Tai-Chi with May over strength training with Ward any day.

Ever since they have started to Tai-Chi together Coulson has made an effort to get up and watch them, while he is positive that May has realised what he is doing she hasn’t said anything. They are the two most important people to him and today he failed them both, he didn’t protect Skye and he once more hurt Melinda, and honestly he wouldn’t blame her if she stuck to her word and never forgave him, because he knows that even if, no when they get Skye back he will never forgive himself for letting her go.

* * *

 

Unlike Coulson May isn’t staring at a bottle of Scotch she is drinking it as she feel silent tears roll down her face. Every single promise she made to both Skye and herself was broken today. She let Coulson talk her into allowing Skye to do something she knew was a bad idea and truthfully she doesn’t know who she I madder at, who she blames more, Coulson or herself. 

* * *

 

True to his word Less than an hour after he ended the video call Director Fury has gotten all the security footage as well as all the flight manifests sent to them.

“We’ve got to go get Coulson and May.” Fitz remains them.

“Maybe we should wait until we find something.” Simmons suggests.

“No, Fitz is right. We should go get them.” Ward tells Simons.

“Okay, go get them then.” Simmons tells Ward.

“What? No. It was Fitz’s suggestion he should get them.” Ward comments.

“No way.” Fitz comments.

“Well I’m not going.” Simmons says.

“We draw straws.” Ward says breaking a pencil into three different sizes pieces. “The person who picks the longest piece doesn’t have to go get either, the second longest picks which one they go get and the shortest gets who’s left. Fair?” Ward asks the other two.

“Fair.” FitzSimmons reply and Ward shuffles the piece in his hand and each of them pick a piece, Fitz having the longest, Simmons having the second longest and Ward having the shortest.

“I’ll take Coulson.” Simmons says before walking up to Coulson’s office.  

* * *

 

Simmons hesitantly knocks on Coulson’s door and receives a faint “Enter” from Coulson. When she enters she sees him sitting at his table holding a picture, looking like he has been crying and what looks like a smashed bottle of scotch on the couch near the door.

“What is it Simmons?” Coulson asks when he sees her.

“You wanted us to let you know when we got the details from the airport, we’ll we’ve got them Sir.” Simmons tells him.

“Thank you Simmons’ I’ll be down in a minute.” Coulson tells her.

“She referred to you as Dad this morning.” Simmons informs Coulson.

“What?” Coulson asks confused looking up at Simmons.

“When she first showed me the email I said we’ve got to go to you and Agent May and she said ‘I can’t tell my Dad about this, he would have freaked out about me getting an email like this before he knew I was his daughter he’ll be a hundred times worse now.’ I don’t even think she realised that she said it. She was terrified Sir, and as you know when Skye is terrified is usually when she shuts herself of from people, but she didn’t this time. She was scared and she called you Dad something she has never called a person. She has faith in you Sir. You need to remember that.” Simmons explains to Coulson not entirely positive about whether what she is saying will help or hurt Coulson but she knows that she has to try.

“Thank you Simmons.” Coulson tells the young scientists her words actually helping him “Really, thank you.”

“Of course Sir. See you downstairs.”

* * *

                                                        

When Ward knocks on the door to May’s bunk several minutes after Simmons went up to talk to Coulson he finds her in a worse state than Simmons found Coulson.

“Somehow I don’t think that will help.” Ward says referring to the bottle of Scotch that May is drinking.

“It won’t hurt either.” May tells him.

“You can’t do this.” Ward tells May.

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do.” May tells him angrily

“Skye’s not dead, she’s missing, but we will find her.” Ward tells his friend.

“I said that for twenty four years.” May says taking another drink of the Scotch.

“Go help Fitz and Simmons.” Coulson says appearing behind Ward.

“You sure Sir?’ Ward asks concerned.

“Sure. Go.” Coulson tells him.

“Don’t you start” May tells Coulson angrily.

“You’re going to listen.” Coulson says reaching over and taking the more than half full bottle of Scotch out of Melinda’s hands “You can’t do this because Ward is right, she’s not dead, she’s missing, and she could be far away and the only way we can get to her is if you fly this plane and you can’t do that if you’ve been drinking. You’re hurting believe me I know, I’m feeling the same. If you want to lash out then lash out, if you want to hurt someone then hurt me, don’t hurt yourself, not again. Skye is out there and we will find her even if I have to call in every favour I’m owed, call Tasha and Clint, every one of the Avengers and tell them that I am alive so that they can help to do it, because I won’t accept anything else and when that happens she is going to need you Melinda. Hate me if you need to because believe me I am, but don’t do this, please.” Coulson tells her. “Come help find our girl.” He pleads.

* * *

 

“Is May coming?” Simmons asks Ward as he enters the Command centre closing the door behind him as he does.

“Not sure, she’s in bad shape.” Ward reveals “Coulson’s talking to her so hopefully that will help.”

“It could make things worse, she did punch him in the face only a few hours ago after all.” Fitz remind him.

“There is no one who knows May better than Coulson, no one. I am sure that he’ll be able to help her.” Ward explains “What have we got?”

“I’m still working on the security Camera’s but Simon’s got something with the manifests.” Fitz informs him.

“What have you got?” Ward asks.

“All the passenger manifest have no names but consist of the pilot, the first officer, and two passengers a man and a woman, all of the planes are heading for Countries that don’t recognize S.H.I.E.L.D authority.” Simmons explains.

“How do we figure out which one she’s on? Skye could be on any of them.” Ward comments annoyed.

“Or none of them.” Simmons comments.                                              

“What are you thinking?” Ward asks her.

“From the beginning this has been very elaborate. Quinn had to contact Lard and get him to send the video to Skye pretending to be working for Rising Tide and just to make it more convincing they murdered Miles and kidnapped Anna. They did all that to just get Skye to that warehoused. They had to have known that S.H.I.E.L.D would be after them as soon as we knew something was wrong, especially if they know who Skye really is, so this whole thing, this whole multiple plane thing could be a way for us to waste time while they get Skye out of the country under S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar.” Simmons explains.

“I think your right.” Fitz comments. “Look.” He says pointing to something on the screen.

“Pause it.” Ward says to Fitz.

“Coulson, we’ve got something you’ll want to see.” Ward says opening the door and informing Coulson who is holding May, who has completely broken down, in his arms.

“Be right there.” Coulson says back.

Less than a minute later Coulson and May both enter the command centre. Apart from a little redness of her eyes May doesn’t even look like she was crying into Coulson’s arms profusely a minute earlier.

“Show me.” Coulson says.

“This was ten minutes after the tracker went dead.” Fitz says pressing play.

The video shows a helicopter identical to the one that they all saw at the warehouse landing. The front doors to the helicopter open and two men get out, both dressed in military gear.

“Pause that.” Coulson says and Fitz does just “Anything on facial recognition?” He asks.

“Running it now sir, but the image quality isn’t that great so we may be out of luck.” Fitz explains.

“I’ll say the quality is pretty good. Are you all seeing what I’m seeing?” May asks looking at the soldiers arms.

“Centipede.” Simmons says worried “So it’s not just Quinn who wants Skye.” She says and everyone looks even more worried as while they had suspected as such they hadn’t had the conformation.

“Continue the video.” Coulson says hoping that they will see Skye, and he gets his wish. Less than thirty seconds after Coulson told Fitz to once more play the video they see the back doors open and Quinn get out and then the soldiers pull out a woman.

“PAUSE IT.” Everyone, even Fitz who is in charge of the pause button says.

“She looks like she’s just sedated.” Coulson comments walking close to the screen to have a look.

“It would make sense. Quinn wouldn’t want her waking up while they are moving.” Ward comments.

“She doesn’t look like she’s hurt.” May says looking at the image closely.

“No she doesn’t.” Coulson says relived about that tiny fact “Fitz continue to play it. “

Fitz does just that but before they can see where Skye is taken a large truck comes along and parks right inform of the camera and by the time it moves Skye, Quinn and the Super Soldiers are gone.

“Are there any other camera’s?” Coulson ask Fitz.

“Not in that area.” Fitz comments “I could check the main gate but I don’t know how much use that would be, there is another two gates in and out of that Air Field that aren’t covered. If they did leave then I doubt it was through only gate with a camera.” He guesses.

“Check it anyway.” Coulson tells him “And we know what the team consist of check other local Air Fields get all private planes with four people total that have left in the last hour checked.” Coulson orders.

“Yes sir.” Ward, Simmons and Fitz say and they get to work.

“Come on.” Coulson tells Melinda “I’ll make you something to eat and then I’ll go update Fury.” Coulson tells his ex-wife.

“I’m okay.” Melinda tells Coulson quietly.

“You need to eat something to absorb all that Scotch, come on.” Coulson says leading May out of the Command Centre and into the kitchen.

* * *

 

Seven hours later, eight hours after Skye was taken and the team is no closer to finding her. There best lead is a plane that left an airport near to the one that they know Skye was at and has flown completely under the radar but they are still working on it.

FitzSimmons, Ward, Coulson and May are all downstairs in the lab working on different things to try and find Skye.

“Guys.” Fitz suddenly says.

“What?” Everyone asks racing over to his computer.

“Twenty Minutes ago Anna Harris walked into a police station half an hour from here saying that she has been kidnapped and that a friend of hers is in danger.” Fitz explains.

“Was she unharmed?” May asks.

“A few cuts a bruises, but yes. She was fine.” Fitz comments surprised.

“They let her go?” Coulson says surprised “Why would they let her go?” He asks confused.

“Don’t know, but I’ll go find out.” Ward says.

“Good idea.” May says and “I’m coming.” May says and the pair leave the lab.

“Sixteen hours.” Coulson mutters to himself.

“Sir?” Simmons asks confused, having overheard what he muttered.

“If we haven’t found Skye in sixteen hours we will have Superhero help.” He explains.

“You don’t mean?” Simmons asks surprised thinking that he can’t possibly referring to who she thinks he is.

“I told Director Fury that I will call the Avengers to help try and find Skye if I have to and not even he would stop me and he said to wait twenty four hours. If twenty four hours since she has been taken has passed and we still haven’t found her then the Avengers are getting called in to see what, if anything, they can do to help.” Coulson explains.

“You really do have a lot of connections Sir.” Simmons comments impressed.

“I just hope that one of them can find her.” Coulson says quietly to himself.

* * *

 

An hour and a half later May and Ward arrive back at the plane.

“What did you find out?” Coulson asks as soon as he sees them.

“Not much. Anna was taken as she left her work at the shelter she had no idea why she was taken until she recognized Miles who was also being held. She said that there were two people there, one was Lard who she said is the one who gave her the bruises and killed Miles and the other was nicer and when shown pictures she picked him out as Quinn. She said that another man just walked into where she was being held half an hour before she went to the police station and told her that she could go, he didn’t even tell her not to go to the police or anything” May explains. “And she was able to lead the police back to the warehouse where they found Miles’s body.”

“So after all the trouble of a kidnapping and holding her not to mention allowing her to see their faces they just let her go.” Coulson comments finding something odd about that.

“Quinn is smart Sir. He knows that we know he took Skye, he wanted us to know. He wouldn’t have left a finger print on the flash drive if he didn’t. Who knows why he took Skye, but the reason that he is doing things the way that he is could be because he is trying to show just how much smarter than S.H.I.E.L.D he is.” Fitz suggests.

“I don’t care how smart he thinks he is, we are smarter we have to be.” Coulson tells him “How’s the search for the plane going?”

“It’s difficult Sir. The plane flew entirely under any radar signals and didn’t file a flight path.” Simmons informs Coulson.

“Flew? Does that mean that you have a destination?” Coulson asks hoping the answer is yes.

“No, but I’m working on it.” Simmons tells him.

“I’m going to update Director Fury.” Coulson says before leaving the lab May right behind him.

“So you’re saying that nine and a half hours after she was taken and we still know nothing?” Ward asks FitzSimmons once May and Coulson are out of hearing range because it is clear that both of them are barely hanging on as it is.

“We know Quinn took her and that she is most likely out of the country by now.” Fitz tells him.

“Which is basically nothing.” Ward says annoyed “He has all of S.H.I.E.L.D after him, how can still be hidden? How can no one find him?” He asks.

“We don’t know how long he has been preparing for this but it could have been a long time. He had to know that taking the daughter of two of S.H.I.E.L.D’s best agents would make him the most wanted man, which likely means that he had plans in place to make sure he could disappear with Skye.” Simmons tells him.

“You’re assuming he knew who Skye was when currently there are only eight people in the world who know.” Ward points out to her.

“We got to assume he does, especially if the Clairvoyant is behind this.” Simmons tells Ward as Quinn knowing exactly who Skye is makes the most sense, even though she logically doesn’t believe in pre cognition she does admit that the Clairvoyant does seem to know things.

“About that, what did Coulson mean when he said that there is a possibility that Skye might have powers? In all the time that I have known her she hasn’t showed any signs.” Ward asks confused.

“Yeah, what’s that about?” Fitz asks looking just as confused as Ward.

“I only know what Skye told me, but basically she was kidnaped when she was a baby by an organization like Centipede they took her in the hope of using her as a test subject and raising her to be a weapon against S.H.I.E.L.D. “ Simmons explains “The agents who brought her back to America were investigating an 0-8-4, her. She had powers but they never saw them. “Simmons explains “That’s all I know.”

“So your saying that Quinn and by extension the Clairvoyant could have taken Skye to see if she really does have powers.” Ward realises.

“It’s possible.” Simmons tells him.

“But how could he have known about Skye? Before she was taken the only people who knew who she really was were on this plane.” Ward comments confused not likely the idea of the possibility of Skye being used as a test subject.

“How does the Clairvoyant know half of what he knows?” Fitz asks.

* * *

 

Three and a half hours later, thirteen hours since Skye was taken and once more everyone is down in the lab wanting to hear from a team that Director Fury sent into investigate the plane that flew completely un detected by radar.

“There’s nothing here Agent Coulson.” Agent Hand reports, “No sign of Quinn or anyone else.” She reports.

“Are we sure that this is the plane that he used?” Coulson asks.

“It’s the most likely option we’ve found.” Agent Hand reports “But we have no idea from here there are another dozen counties that he could have gone to a dozen different ways. We’re working on it.” Agent Hand reports as due to the fact that all she knows is that Skye is missing not who she is, she doesn’t understand why all the intense fuss is being made or why her orders from both Director Fury and Commander Hill are to do whatever it takes to find the girl.

“What about Rania?” May ask as in her last report Agent Hand said she sent men to talk to her but she hadn’t said anything at that point.

“Still not talking Agent May.” Agent Hand replies.

“Let us know if you get something.” Coulson says before ending the video call.

“Anything other leads?” Coulson asks the rest of his team.

 “Commander Hill sent a very, very small team into Malta and has found that Quinn’s compound is completely deserted, he’s not holding her there.” Ward reports.

“Excuse me.” May says leaving the room needing a moment to herself.

“The last time we lost Skye it broke Melinda, I will not allow that to happen again, because this time I don’t think I’ll be able to help put her back together. I want Skye found, no matter what it takes.” Coulson says angrily, Ward, and FitzSimmons very sure that he didn’t mean to say any of it out loud or if he did he didn’t intend for them to hear.

“We’re doing our best, Sir.” Ward tells him “We all want Skye back.”

“There has to be something we haven’t tried, something that we can do.” Coulson says clearly becoming upset once more.

“Sir, how about you take a break. Have a rest. We’ll let you know as soon as we find something.” Ward suggest feeling like the one thing that could help Coulson the most at the moment is a break. 

“No, I can’t rest until I find her.” Coulson says.

“Sir..” Begins to say but is cut off by the ringing of Coulson’s phone.

“I don’t recognize this number.” Coulson comments as he looks down at the caller id.

“On it Sir.” Fitz says hurriedly typing something into his computer “Trace will start the second that you answer.” He informs Coulson.

Coulson nods and presses the accept call button followed by the loud speaker one.

 

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	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Unknowns to Skye twelve hours after Quinn injected her with a sedative she wakes at another location, very, very far from the warehouse. When she wakes she has no idea where she is or how much time has passed. The only thing that she does know is that her arm is hurting a lot and she is tied to a chair.

As soon as she remembers what happen Skye attempts to get out of her restraints which, turn out to be zip ties but every time she tries to do what May taught her to do she gets another blinding flash of pain from her arm.

“I wouldn’t do that if was you.” Quinn’s voice says from the corner of the room. “Not that it would matter if you did manage to get free.” He comments walking over and placing the chair he was sitting on several meters in front of her and sitting down “All you’re going to do is do more damage to that arm.” He comments.

“Oh yeah? Why won’t it matter if I get free?” Skye asks.

“Because on your arm that not broken you’ll find a bracelet that will render any form of GPS un operable. If you get free then yes you can use technology but no phone GPS, GPS transceiver, GPS or satellite of any kind will be able to tell your location.” Quinn explains “If you are cooperative then your arm will be treated, so stop fighting Skye.” Quinn tells her.

“I think I’d rather the pain.” Skye tells him “What do you want from me anyway?” she asks.

“I don’t want anything, my associate does.” Quinn explains.

“Who’s your associate?” Skye asks though judging by who was with him at the warehouse she is pretty sure that she already knows.

“The Clairvoyant.” Quinn answers “I’m not normally one to take part in these kind of undertakings but when the Clairvoyant asks you do.” Quinn explains.

“I’m just a hacker. Why does the Clairvoyant want me?” Skye asks faking confusion but at the same time she is wondering whether it has anything to do with what happened when she was a baby.

“Oh Skye, we both know you are much more than that.” Quinn tells her “The Clairvoyant has been looking for you for a very, very long time.” Quinn tells her.

“Well if the names anything to go by why hasn’t he found me before now?” Skye asks curious “Shouldn’t he have just been able to see me?” She asks.

“Normally finding someone wouldn’t be a problem but you Skye, are special.” Quinn informs her “But I’m betting you already know that.”

“Me? Special? I think you have the wrong girl.” Skye tells him actually believe what she is saying to some degree.

“Oh, I know I don’t.” Quinn tells her “Skye was the name you were given at St. Agnes but you’ve gone by others. You went by Sarah Mac for six months, Jade for three, Chloe for four, Paige for two, and Lisa on and off since you were a teenager but your real name is May Philippa Coulson.” Quinn says to Skye’s surprise but she doesn’t let it show.

“So you know who I really am, impressive.” Skye comments “But that just begs the question if you know all that then how come this Clairvoyant hasn’t been able to find me?” She asks. “I did spend most of my childhood at the same place, guess your boss isn’t as good as you think he is.” She comments trying to make Quinn annoyed so that he says more than he should.

“The Clairvoyant couldn’t find you because The Clairvoyant couldn’t see you, because you are like him.” Quinn explains.

“What do you mean?” Skye asks this time really confused.

“I know what you are doing.” Quinn says getting up and walking behind Skye to tighten her restraints. “But I’ll indulge you after all according to your friend Miles you’ve been searching for answers for a very long time.” He says.

“You killed Miles.” Skye says angrily.

“No, that was your ex-boyfriends work.  The only thing I did is get you here.” Quinn says.

“What about Anna? And the others? Are they safe?” Skye asks as even though she wants to know what exactly Quinn meant by The Clairvoyant being like her she needs to know that her friends are safe.

“Your friend Anna is fine, she was realised hours ago unharmed. The rest of your friends were never in danger. Just bait to get you to the warehouse.” Quinn explains.

“How long have you had me?” Skye asks, trying to put out of her mind just how worried Coulson and May must be.

“Oh about twelve hours or so.” Quinn comments looking at his watch “We’ve been doing some traveling. From what I understand your parents are doing everything they can to try and find you. But they won’t.” Quinn tells Skye.

“Oh yes they will.” Skye says surprising herself by being absolutely sure of that.

“Are you sure about that? They looked for you for twenty five years and couldn’t find you after all.” Quinn reminds her.

“It’s because they couldn’t find me for twenty five years that they will this time, and I really wouldn’t want to be you when they do.” Skye tells Quinn.

“Believe what you want, but they couldn’t have been looking too hard if they couldn’t find a single clue to where you were in all that time.” Quinn tells Skye, clearly trying to put a sense of doubt in her mind.

“The same could be said about your boss, after all he couldn’t find me. How good could he be if he couldn’t find one girl?” Skye reminds Quinn being determine not to let what he is saying get to her.

“The Clairvoyant is all knowing, all seeing and more powerful than you can imagine.” Quinn tells Skye sounding irritated.

“If you say so.” Skye says sarcastically. “But that doesn’t change the fact that he couldn’t find me.”

“He’s got you now.” Quinn reminds her “And not for the first time.”

“Yeah how exactly did he find me now? What did it take?” Skye asks “Because in the last few months I have come into contact with Centipede operations more than once, and met you, so if you ask me he just researched into the team and realised who I was. Not exactly genius work.” Skye comments and then notices the look Quinn has on his face “Oh, that’s how he did it didn’t he? No knowing or just seeing but good old fashion research. Guess the Clairvoyant isn’t as great as you think he is.” Skye tells him trying to make it sound like she thinks the Clairvoyant is a big joke so that Quinn will tell her more of what she wants to know.

“The Clairvoyant is great.” Quinn angrily “He took you from your parents when you were three months old and they never found you again. He gave you want you needed to be just like him and if one of his employees didn’t get nervous about testing it on a baby and sneak you out of the lab and back home to his village, then you would have grown to be the greatest weapon against S.H.I.E.LD this world has ever seen. So don’t you doubt the Clairvoyant’s greatness.” Quinn says angrily.

“Thanks for telling me everything I wanted to know.” Skye tells Quinn with a grin “So the Clairvoyant tried to make me like him, is that why he can’t see me?” Skye asks curious.

“Nice trick.” Quinn admits, “But it doesn’t matter you would have found out all of that eventually and it’s not like you’re getting out of here anyway, so there is no one you can tell.” Quinn tells Skye “And yes that’s why the Clairvoyant can’t see you. What he gave you, what gave you your abilities also keeps you hidden from him.” Quinn tells Skye.

“What abilities?” Skye asks confused “I don’t have any abilities” She informs him.

“Oh, but you do. You just don’t realise it.” Quinn tells Skye, “But don’t worry we’re going to show you.” He says once more tightening Skye’s restraints and heading to the door. Even though his orders are to stay with Skye until the Clairvoyant tells him otherwise he has to disobey those orders because he has already told her too much and if he stays in the same room with her she may just manage to get him to say more, something that no one wants.   

“I’ve got to ask, what’s with the ugly shirt?” Skye asks as under Quinn’s jacket he is wearing a shirt with very small flowers on it which really doesn’t look too good.

“Who doesn’t like flowers?” Quinn asks before exiting.

“Okay Skye this is bad like really, really horribly bad.” Skye says to herself, “But don’t think about that, don’t think about how bad this is or how much your arm is hurting, just concentrate. Remember what May told you.” She thinks to herself. “Okay what’s first?” She thinks to herself trying to remember everything that May, Coulson and Ward taught her “Scope out the room, see what you’ve got.” She realises.  Skye spends several minutes looking around the room and she sees that the room is completely empty except for the chair that she is tied to and the one Quinn was sitting on. There is a little light right above her that is lighting the room and there is absolutely no windows and the only door is the one Quinn left through.

“Okay, one door.” She thinks “Which will be guarded by who knows how many Super Soldiers.” Skye comments knowing that even if there was just one Super Solider she would stand no chance. “Okay, you need a plan.” She thinks to herself. “I could get out of these restraints wait to Quinn comes and use him as a hostage.” She thinks “No, wouldn’t work, I doubt they or the Clairvoyant would care.” She realises.

“Okay first things first you need to get out of the restraints.” Skye thinks to herself knowing that before she can do anything she has to get out of the zip ties. Skye attempts a couple of times to break free of them but the pain in her left arm is making it so much harder than she already finds it. “Come on Skye, focus. Don’t think about the pain.” Skye thinks to herself, just before once more attempting to break the ties around her hands. This time she is successful but it took all her strength not to scream out in pain from her arm. Once her hands are free she unties the rope from around her feet and starts to look closely at everything in the room so that she can try and get free, keeping her left arm in the least painful position possible as she does.  Looking around the room she realises something and comes up with an idea that isn’t the stupidest idea that she could have had but one that is pretty stupid.

“Please still be in here.” Skye says sticking her hand inside the inside of her bra and pulling out a bobby pin a minute later “Thank you May.” She says to herself as May gave her the advice to hide a bobby pin in the inside folds of the inside of her bra so that she could pick a lock if needed.

Being as quite as possible Skye goes to the door and within a couple of minutes she has picked the lock, she hears it unlock but she doesn’t open it. Instead she walks back over to the chairs and stands on the one that Quinn was sitting on so that she can reach a pipe that is above her. She grabs the pipe with her good arm but as she does she realises that she isn’t going to be able to do what she wants to attempt to do with one arm, she is going to have to grab on with both arms, and even then there is a strong possibility that she won’t succeed. “Okay, this is going to hurt.” Skye thinks to herself and at the same time she is thankful for the strength training that Ward forced her to do and the Tia-Chi she has been doing with her Mother because otherwise she would have absolutely no chance of being able to do what she is about to attempt to, “Okay, deep breaths. Just focus on what you need to do.” Skye says to herself and with a huge amount of pain she reaches up with her left arm and with extreme difficulty grasps the pipe. “Focus on the objective no the pain.” She says to herself remembering what May told her and as quietly as possible she moves the chair over with her legs but doesn’t knock it over. Once the chair is out of her way Skye swings backwards and doing the best she can to remain holding the pipe, and ignore the pain in her arm which feels like someone is slowly stabbing glass into it, Skye swings forward and grabs the door handle with her feet and pulls it open as she swings back. As soon as the door open the two Centipede soldiers who were holding her at the warehouse come into the room. Skye is still holding on to the pipe and as she swings forward she pulls he legs up to her body and lets go as she’s as forward as she can go.

It takes the soldiers a second to realise what she is doing but in that second Skye is able to land on her feet outside the room and pull the door close behind her, locks it and knowing that will only buy her about thirty seconds at the most she runs.

Less than twenty seconds after she closed and locked the door Skye hears the sound of the Soldiers breaking through the door, so she runs faster down the corridor that her door opened out to. As she runs she sees several doors but as she knows that she doesn’t have enough time to check each of them and hope that she finds the right one she runs to the widow that she sees at the other end knowing that it is her best chance. “Please don’t be too high up.” Skye says to herself as she runs full speed at the window, bracing herself for the impact as she does.

After breaking through the window Skye realises that she is only a story of the ground. She braces herself for the landing and manages to land on her feet before rolling forward, into a whole lot of broken glass from the window. Incredibly sore and positive that she has at least a few mildly serious cuts from the glass Skye gets up and with extreme difficulty she runs, knowing that it is her only chance.

As she runs Skye lets the adrenaline take over and only focuses on running. As she does she takes notice of her surrounding’s so that she can try and figure out where she is, she realises that the sun is just setting and it is a little cooler than it was in Los Angeles. As she runs Skye doesn’t look back she just keeps running, as she does she doesn’t recognize any of the architecture but she is sure that she isn’t in a big city.  

She has been running for almost twenty minutes when she sees that she is near a more populated part of wherever she is which means it’s time to stop running, blend in and obtain a few things. She quickly ducks into an alley and carefully removes her jacket to shake out all the glass that is still on it. As she does she notices that along with having glass sticking into her, which she doesn’t attempt to remove because she knows that it is a very real possibility that doing that will make her injuries worse, she has a few cuts on her torso and stomach that look pretty bad and she is sure that once the adrenaline wears off will be very painful. She also notices that she has a few cuts on her legs and she is sure that they will also be sore later but thankfully the cuts on her legs don’t look as bad as the ones on her torso and stomach, and as she is wearing dark jeans they aren’t that notable. Once she is sure that all the glass is out of her jacket, being careful of her injured arm, and being sure not to move the pieces of glass that are still sticking into her, she puts it back on and does it up to hide the blood that her shirt is almost covered in.

Once she is as sure as she can be that her appearance won’t draw more attention to herself she leaves the alley and starts to mingle amongst the people. Using talents that she has picked up over the years Skye picks a couple of pockets stealing a phone and well as a couple of wallets so that she has money.  She takes the cash out of the wallets and ditches the rest knowing that before too long the credit cards will be useless. As she looks at the money she realises that the Currency doesn’t give her much of a clue to where she is because some of the money she collected was Euro’s and some was American dollars, the two most common form of currency in the world. As she looks at the phone she sees that it won’t be much of a help either because it is in English and says location unavailable, which is most likely from the Bracelet that Quinn put on her. Glad that the number she wants to call doesn’t need an area code Skye enters the number, presses call and hopes that it works.

“Hello? Who is this? How did you get this Number?” Coulson’s voice answers.

“Dad.” Skye says more relieved than she has ever been to hear another person’s voice.

 

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	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

* * *

 

“Skye?” Coulson asks not sure about what he is more shocked about hearing Skye’s voice or hearing her call her Dad, but he knows that he is more relieved that he has ever been.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Skye replies sounding just as relieved as Coulson feels.

“Go get May.” FitzSimmons tell Ward at the same time.  

“Are you okay? Where are you? Are you hurt?” Coulson asks concerned as Ward runs out of the room.

“I’m… Okay.” Skye says hesitantly as she isn’t sure explaining her injuries would be a good idea “And I’m still trying to work out where I am.” She informs him.

“Fitz is tracing the call, he’ll be able to tell you where you are and we’ll be able to come and get you.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“He won’t be able to trace the call.” Skye says at the same time that Fitz says “Why can’t I trace the call?”

“Why not?” Coulson asks Skye.

“Quinn put this bracelet on my arm it’s a bit like the one you put on me except this stops any form of GPS or Satellite telling you were I am.” Skye explains.

“Have you gotten away from Quinn? Are you safe?” Coulson asks concerned.

“Yeah, I’ve gotten away from Quinn, I’m not exactly sure about safe.” Skye comments as she looks out of the alley she is to make sure she doesn’t see Quinn or any of the Super Soldiers “Quinn told me a lot, probably a lot more than he should have, so he’s probably got everyone looking for me.” Skye explains “Wherever she is step up the security you have on Rania, something Quinn said makes me think that she’s more important that she seems.  Also I found out that the Clairvoyant is who took me when I was and baby, I’ll explain more when I see you but basically he tried to make me like him and because of that he apparently can’t see me, that’s why I’ve been safe all these years.” Skye explains.

“Skye?” Melinda asks running into the room Ward right behind her.

“Mom.” Skye says relieved to her hear her mother’s voice.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” May asks worried her concern for her daughter overshadowing the joy she is feeling that Skye called her Mom for the first time.

“Considering everything I’m good.” Skye tells her worried mother.

“What does that mean considering everything?’ Coulson asks concerned “You haven’t answered the question about whether you hurt or not.” Coulson says as Skye hears a beep on the phone so she looks at the screen to make sure it isn’t a message from the owner saying to give the phone back at a location, it’s not, but instead it something that makes her blood run cold “Not good, I’ve got to ditch this phone.” Skye says clearly concerned.

“Why? What happened?” May asks worried.

“A message just appeared “Nice try Skye, but I’ll find you.” Skye explains. “Any help you could give for hiding from Quinn and at least two Super Soldiers would be appreciated.” Skye tells the group.

“How did you get away from them?” Ward asks curious and impressed that she managed to.

“Broke out of my restraints, picked a lock, hung from a pipe, jumped over them by swinging on the pipe, locked them in the room I was kept in,  jumped out a first story window, and ran.” Skye explains quicker.

“You what?” May and Coulson asks shocked but both are extremely impressed and proud “How hurt are you?” May asks at the same time that Fitz asks “What can you tell me about where you are?”

“Um the sun’s just setting, it’s colder than it was in Los Angeles. The money I stole from people on the street I was walking along was both Euro’s and American dollars. I hear people talking Spanish, English and Russian mostly, but I can’t pick up any distinct accents. I’m not in a large city but it is a city and it took me twenty minute to run from where I was to what looks like a shopping district.” Skye quickly explains avoiding answering the, are you hurt? Question as she doesn’t want to lie or make Coulson and May worry more.

“I’ve really got to ditch this phone in a second, but before I do what shouldn’t I do to hide form Quinn and the soldiers?” Skye asks.

“Change your clothes.” May tells her daughter “Steal money if you have to, but buy the clothes legally. Get something that is completely different to what you are wearing but at the same time makes you blend in, you don’t want to stand out. Don’t go to the places that they will expect you to go to, Police Station, Hospital, or Embassy, avoid those kind of places because Quinn will have people waiting for you. Do not draw attention to yourself and avoid security cameras as much as possible.” May tells her daughter.

“And don’t trust anyone.” Coulson adds “We’ll find you Skye, just hold on.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Got it.” Skye tells her parents “Simmons you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” Simmons answers.

“Good.” Skye says “Don’t even think about borrowing my stuff while I’m gone, not after last time. You destroyed my blue sweater.” Skye comments, to the confusion of everyone but Simmons because as far as they are aware Simmons has never borrowed stuff from Skye, as she looks down at her watch.

“Don’t worry I won’t, you made the consequences perfectly clear last time.” Simmons responds to the confusion of everyone else while she hurriedly types something into the computer.

“Good.” Skye responds “I’ve got to go. I’ve probably stayed in once place for too long.” She tells her parents.

“Skye, we’ll find you.” Coulson promises his daughter.                

”Be careful.” Melinda adds.

“I know you will, and I will” Skye says truly meaning what she is saying, truly trusting someone else for the first time in her life, “Bye guys.” Skye says before hanging up the phone.

“She’s okay.” Melinda says relieved to Coulson as Simmons runs across the lab.

“She’s okay.” Coulson repeats both so happy to have heard from their daughter.

“She called us Mom and Dad.” Coulson realises.

“Yeah, she did.” May says still sounding shocked.

“Simmons what was that about? What are you doing? What’s the timer for?” Ward asks Simmons interrupting May and Coulson’s moment.

“What this is all about Agent Ward is that Skye is a genius.” Simmons tells him as she enters a code into a lock box.

“That thing about borrowing her stuff and a blue sweeter that was a code.” Coulson realises.

“Exactly.” Simmons says “When you were on bed rest and when you two” She says looking at Fitz and Ward “Were obsessed with band hero Skye and I spend a lot of time down here watching TV shows and talking.” Simmons explains “I don’t even remember how now but we got onto the subject of how Manscapeing isn’t really a good safe word so we started to think of a better one and that lead to a whole lot of other codes so that we can find each other if something happened to one of us, or if we were in danger, or anything like that.” Simmons explains.

“So how does that code help to find her? She said she wasn’t sure where she is.” Ward reminds her.

“She doesn’t have to know.” Simmons tells him “In exactly 108 minutes form when she said that code she will log into a Gilmore Girl’s chartroom under the name JavaJunkibeatsLit and leave a post about how Luke and Lorelai are so much of a better couple that Rory and Jess it will look completely normal but hidden in that message using an encryption that she created will tell us the location of the computer she is sending the message from, a clue which only one of us will be able to figure out which will lead us to what nearby location she is hiding at, and which website she will post at next if 108 minutes pass and we or someone we send doesn’t turn up there.” Simmons explains.

“108 Minutes?” Fritz asks “You were watching Lost when you created that weren’t you?” He asks and Jemma nods “And you didn’t invite me.” He says looking annoyed at that.

“You were playing band hero.” Simmons defends.

“Simmons she said that Quinn put a bracelet on her that will prevent her location from being told via GPS.” Coulson points out.

“Shouldn’t matter.” Simmons comments “Skye’s code should by past that but if it doesn’t using a program she created which I have, with your help.” She says looking at Fitz “We should still be able to get the coordinates from this end.” Simmons explains.

“I’m going to call Director Fury tell him that Skye’s called and she’s going to need an extraction.” Coulson comments.

“I’m going to start the plane. From what Skye said Europe seems like the most likely option and it’s going to take us a while to get there.” May comments and both her and Coulson leave the room.

“She’s okay.” Simmons says relieved once May and Coulson leave the room.

“Yeah, she is.” Fitz says also relieved.

“I wouldn’t celebrate now, she’s got a long way to go before she is safe and she did avoid the question whenever she was asked if she was hurt.” Ward points out though he too was very, very relieved to hear from Skye.

“You had to point that out didn’t you?’ Simmons tells him “I was trying not to think about it.” Simmons admits.

* * *

 

As soon as she hung up the phone with her parents and the rest of the team Skye dropped the phone on the ground, stepped on it and smashed it. Then remembering what her mother said she leaves the alley in search of a woman’s cloths shop that is still open.

It doesn’t take her long before she finds a store still open and where all the signage is in English.

“We’re closing in five minutes.” The owner tells Skye ask she walks in.

“I won’t be that long.” Skye says and she first heads to the jeans section where she gets a pair of black jeans in her size. Once she collects them she goes and gets a long brown coat to replace her short black leather one as well as a new tank top and a buttoned down long sleave blue top.

“Do you have somewhere I could put all this on?” Skye asks curious as she pays “I want to wear it now.” She explains.

“There are change rooms out the back, you can use them, but hurry.” The owner tells Skye.

“I will, thanks.” Skye says.

As she in changing she notices that the cuts on her stomach and torso may be a bit worse than what she thought they were, that there is more than just a few pieces of glass sticking into her, and that hanging from a pipe with what is likely a broken arm wasn’t the best idea she could have had. Leaving her torn and bloody clothes in the dressing room Skye un ties her hair which was up for once and leaves the store, but not through the front like she came but through the back door which see sees.

Checking her watch to see how much time she has until she has to message Simmons Skye walks around the area, amongst the people trying her best to blend in and stay hidden at the same time. Something that as the sun has now completely set is quite easy to do as long as she avoids direct light as much as possible. As she passes a chemist she debates going in to get herself some pain medication and supplies to treat her cuts and remove the glass, but she decides against it for two reasons, the first being that Quinn knows she’s hurt so likely has people keeping an eye out for her and her second reason being that she doesn’t want to dull her senses in case Quinn and the Super Soldiers find her.

* * *

 

It is five minutes until Skye is due to leave her message for Simmons and everyone is down in the Lab and they are on group call with Director Fury and Commander Hill so that they can see exactly where Skye is.

“It should be any minute now.” Simmons tells the group.

“And you can decode the encryption?” Ward asks wanting to make sure.

“Skye left the program. The program and Skye herself are the only things that can. She created this encryption for this sole purpose, only she and I have ever seen it.” Simmons explains.

Ward nods and everyone stands in silence for several minutes. “That’s her.” Simmons says referring to the message that was just posted.

“How long will the encryption take?” Coulson asks.

“About a minute.” Simmons answers.  “Done.” She says a minute later. “That’s the latitude and longitude for where the computer she is using is, and the clue to where nearby she is ‘don’t tell me what I can’t do.’’ Simmons says.

“Locke.” FitzSimmons say together the second Simmons read out Skye’s clue.

“What?” Coulson asks confused.

“It’s a quote that a character on the show Lost used to say a lot.” Simmons explains as looks at nearby locations to try and find the one that Skye will be at “Got it.” Simmons says “Two streets over from the internet café that Skye used there is an abandoned building that used to be a shop called Jacob’s it’s a two story building Skye will be on the second level.” Simmons tells everyone.

“How do you figure that?” Ward asks interested.

“Skye liked Locke more than Jacob.” Simmons explains simply. Everyone else is still confused but because Simmons seems so sure they don’t question it.

“Maria?” Coulson asks knowing that she is the closest.

“I can personally be there in half an hour.” Agent Hill informs Coulson. “I’ll get her out and take her back to my base where she can receive medical treatment if needed.”

“Good.” Coulson tells her. “I told her not to trust anyone when we spoke so you are going to have to prove to her that I sent you.” Coulson informs her.

“How do I do that?” Agent Hill asks confused.

“Tell her that you’re the welcome wagon, and that she didn’t stick to her end of the bargain.” Coulson explains “She’ll believe you then.”

“Will do. I’ll go get your girl. Phil, Melinda, see you soon.” Maria tells them before ending the call.

“How long until you will be at Commander Hill’s base?” Director Fury asks.

“About seven hours.” Melinda answers wishing that they could be there faster.

“Good.” Fury says before ending his part of the call.

“She’s nearly safe.” Melinda says to Coulson.

“She’s nearly safe.” Coulson repeats as he hesitantly reaches out and grabs Melinda’s hand which to his surprise she grasps instead of pulling away from.

* * *

 

As soon as she sent her message to Simmons Skye heads to the building that she decided would be where she would wait.

As she walks up the stairs to the higher level of her she can feel herself getting tired and not from all the running that she has done. Once she reaches that level she looks around and tries to decide the best place for her to wait, she decides on a little alcove across from the stairs so that she can see if anyone comes up the stairs.

She is tempted to sit down but then she realises that if she does then there is the possibility that she will not be able to get up so she stands instead. As she stands she looks down at the bracelet and wonders why Quinn hasn’t found her yet when has that around her wrist, it’s bound to have a GPS tracker in it after all, then Skye remembers the bracelets purpose and realised that to make sure that no one else could tell her location it’s likely that Quinn also made it impossible for him to find her as well.

For half an hour Skye stands feeling herself getting more and more tired until she hears a noise downstairs. She listens carefully and she realises that it is a person, and that the person is coming upstairs. When Skye hears the person her first instinct is to run but she doesn’t for two reasons, the first being that the person could be sent by her parents and the second is that even if she does run she isn’t sure that she will get too far.

A couple of minutes after she first heard the person moving downstairs she sees her.

“Skye?” The Woman in blue pants and a blue jacket with dark hair asks.

“Who are you?” Skye asks not confirming or denying who she is.

“My Name is Maria Hill I am an Assistant Director at S.H.I.E.L.D, your father sent me.” Maria tells Skye and it then that Skye notices the S.H.I.E.L.D logo on the side of her jacket.

“My father told me not to trust anyone.” Skye says remembering Coulson’s words though she does hope that the woman is telling the truth because she isn’t sure how much longer she can remain standing.

“He told me that you would say that so I was to tell you that I’m the welcome wagon, and you didn’t stick to your end of the bargain.” Commander Hill tells Skye “I’ve got an extraction team standing by to take us back to my base where your parents are currently on their way to.”

“He really sent you.” Skye says relieved “Good, I really don’t think I could have fought or ran if I had to.” Skye informs Commander Hill.

“Are you badly hurt?” Commander Hill asks worried as she notices that Skye seems to be holding her left arm and that it only seems like she is still standing because she is leaning against the wall

“You could say that.” Skye says standing attempting to stand up straight but instead collapses to the ground.

“This is Commander Hill I need immediate extraction with medical team now!” She says as she rushes to Skye.

                                       

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	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

** AN2 SPOILERS FROM 1X13: **

OMG OMG. That episode was incredible and Evil at the same time I loved the May/Coulson stuff because you really saw how much they care about each other. Skye better be okay.  And I HATE THE OLYMPICS, Stupid Olympics making the wait for new shows be even longer. I CAN’T WAIT A MONTH TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED. Anyway if you have seen the ep say your thoughts in your review.

** END OF SPOILERS **

* * *

 

“Skye talk to me.” Maria says once she’s at Skye’s side.

“Maria, what’s wrong?” Director Fury asks through the coms.

“She just collapsed.” Maria reports as she rolls Skye onto her back as she does Skye’s jacket opens and she is able to see her injuries “How far is medivac?” She asks Fury.

“About five minutes from the roof. How bad is she?” Fury asks worried.

“I don’t know if she has five minutes.” Hill thinks but doesn’t voice that thought instead she says “She was holding her left arm so I’m assuming that’s hurt, but that’s not why she collapsed.” Hill reports as she unbuttons Skye’s top to have a closer look at her injuries “She has quite a few cuts on her stomach and torso, some look worse than others. She also still has glass penetrating into her skin. I think she collapsed due to blood lost.” Maria say as she picks up Skye being as careful as possible.

“The medivac has blood on hand, make sure they give her A positive instead of just O.” Fury tells Hill.

“You know her blood type sir?” Hill asks surprised.

“When she was taken as a baby I memorised all of her medical information. Just in case we needed it when we found her.” Fury explains.

“Oh.” Hill responds not sure what else to say as she climbs up to the roof with Skye in her arms. “How far away is the medivac?” May asks as she reaches the roof.

“Three minute. How is she?” Fury asks.

“Hanging in there.” Hill reports, “She must have gotten these injuries when she escaped which means she has been running around trying to stay hidden for over two hours with these injuries. She must have been in so much pain.” Hill comments as she move’s Skye’s hair out of her face, “She looks a lot like Melinda, but I can see Coulson in her features to.” She comments.

“She looked a lot like Melinda when she was a baby.” Fury comments thinking of the baby girl he used to hold.

“Melinda never told me.” Hill tells Fury “All the time she was training me she never told me that she had a daughter.” Hill comments, she was surprised to learn about Skye because in all the years she has known Coulson and Melinda the years she had Melinda as her SO she never knew that she had a daughter.

“You were the last person that Melinda was a SO to before she left the Field work. Before Bahrain before May was taken, Melinda was different. Loosing May broke her, her and Coulson. I know neither of them stoped looking but they didn’t talk about it. I think it hurt them too much.” Fury explains as he knows for a fact that up until now May and Coulson had only told two other agents their history, making those two agents the only two apart from the very few who were around at the time and the current team to know the completely truth about their past, not the rumours that are around S.H.I.E.L.D, but the actual truth. The only ones to know that they have a daughter together.

“May? I thought her name was Skye?” Hill asks confused.

“That’s the name she goes by now but her birth name is May Philippa Coulson.” Fury explains.

“Medevac’s here.” Hill informs Fury.

“Good. Get her out of there. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” Fury informs Hill.

“You’re coming Sir?” Hill asks surprised.

“Yes. I want to see Coulson and Melinda.” He explains.

“Are you going to tell them about Skye’s injuries?” Hill asks interested as she helps the medical team get Skye into the helicopter.

“I have to.” Fury tells her.

* * *

 

Ever since Hill left the video conference to go get Skye, Coulson, May, FitzSimmons and Ward have been waiting to hear something from her or Director Fury as to how Skye is.

Finally forty minutes after Agent Hill ended her part of the video call another transmitter comes through.

“It’s Director Fury.” Simmons says as the call connects.

“She’s has been safely extracted.” Fury says without any greetings.

“Can we talk to her?” Coulson asks.

“Not at the moment.” Fury tells him.

“Why not?” Coulson asks.

“According to Maria Skye has collapsed. The reason for the collapse isn’t entirely sure but the medivac team are treating her and Dr. Streiten is standing by at Commander Hill’s field base to take over when they arrive there within the next half an hour.” Fury explains.

“How badly is she hurt?” Melinda asks worried.

“Unclear.” Fury tells her “But she is was doing okay last time I heard from Maria which was as they were getting onto the medivac.” He explains. “I will get Maria to get you an update as soon as possible.” He tells the agents.

“Did she collapse due to injuries or exhaustion?” Coulson asks needing answers, putting aside his personal feelings about Dr Streiten and him being the one to treat his daughter after discovering the part he played in his resurrection, because he is the best doctor that S.H.I.E.L.D has and he only wants the best for his daughter.

“Like I said unclear. Phil I will tell Maria to call you as soon as she knows anything.” Fury says before ending the video conference.

“She’s safe.” Fitz comments glad for small miracles.

“But hurt.” Simmons adds.

“Are we going as fast as we can?” Coulson ask May.

“Of course.” May responds. “But it’s still going to be around six to six and a half hours.” Melinda says wishing that there was a way to make the plane faster.

“Sir, there’s another video call coming through.” Simmons tells Coulson.

“Answer it.” Coulson tells her and Agent Hill appears on the Screen.

“Maria, how is she?” Melinda asks worried.

“She’s stable. She has some pretty bad cuts on her torso and stomach as well as some small slivers of glass sticking into her.” She explains.

“That would be from jumping out the window.” Ward comments.

“What?” Maria asks confused.

“She said to get away from Quinn and the Soldiers she jumped out a first floor window.” Coulson explains.

“That defiantly explains the glass then.” Maria comments “The medical team are giving her a blood transfusion because it’s not exactly clear how much blood she has lost in the last few hours. One we are back at the base Dr Streiten will do a full assessment, remove the glass and treat the wounds.” Maria explains.

“Is she hurt anywhere else?” Melinda asks concerned.

“She was holding her left arm when I got to her at the building that she was hiding at so I believe that she hurt her arm but we won’t know anymore until we get back to base.” Maria explains. “At the moment she’s completely stable. That’s the best news there could be given the circumstances.” Maria tells her fellow Agents, her friends.

“Stay with her until we get there, please Maria.” May requests.

“Yes Ma’am.” Maria replies even though she outranks May.

“Let us know if anything changes.” Coulson says and Maria nods and ends the video conference.

“Doesn’t Commander Hill outrank you?” Ward asks May confused as to why Commander Hill called May ma’am.

“I was her S.O.” May says before leaving the room.

“Thank you for everything you have all done.” Coulson tells the team “Skye safe, but we still need to find Quinn. Work every lead you have.” Coulson says before leaving the room.

* * *

 

After leaving the Lab May goes to her bunk where she just sits down on her bed and tries to figure out what she is feeling. She has been attempting to do that for several minutes when there is nock on her door.

“Can I come in?” Coulson asks and May nods in replies so Coulson walks over and sits down on the bed.

“I’m sorry.” May tells Coulson a few minutes later.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Coulson tells her.

“Yes I do.” May tells him “I’ve been falling apart, while you’ve had to keep it together. I’ve been blaming you, putting everything on you and that’s not fair.” May tells him.

“I’ve been blaming myself too.” Coulson tells her. “I let her go.”

“We both did.” May corrects. 

“I forced you too.” Coulson reminds her “I said things that we’re out of line to get you to agree. It’s my fault that she went to that warehouse, it’s my fault that she was kidnapped and how hurt she is that’s on me too.” Coulson reveals to May.

Without a word May reaches out and grabs Coulson’s hand, “It’s on both of us, not just you, and I’m sorry if I’ve made it seem like it was just your fault.” May tells Coulson and the pair drift back in silence, both of them knowing better than trying to talk the other out of their guilt because there is nothing that can be said to stop either of them feeling guilty. 

* * *

 

As soon as Commander Hill got back to her base with Skye Dr Streiten took hurried in and rushed her to a treatment room.

“How is she?” Maria asks Dr Streiten once he comes back a few hours later.

“Completely stable, she should wake within the next few hours.” Streiten tells her “She is a remarkably strong young woman.”

“What do you mean?” Agent Hill asks Curious.

“Her left arm was broken approximately fifteen hours ago, I assume that occurred when she was taken, but then one part of the broken bone was broken again two hours before I started treating her injuries.” Dr Streiten explains.

“Are you saying that however she managed to escape Quinn that she did it with a broken arm?” Hill asks impressed.

“That’s exactly what I am saying.” Streiten tells her “But it’s not just that. Most of her stomach and torso had cuts from glass, it must have been very, very painful. Most of the cuts are only little and will heal on their own but there are two that required stitches and one that if it didn’t have a piece of glass sticking in it would have caused her to bleed out very quickly, she was incredibly lucky.” Dr Streiten explains.

“Guess she’s as strong as her parents.” Hill comments as she looks through the window into the room that Skye is laying in.

“Tec division managed to remove that bracelet that Quinn put on her without incident so that’s no longer a problem.” Streiten tells Hill.

“Good.” Hill says, “Did you know Melinda and Phil when they were married?” Hill asks curious several minutes later.

“Yes.” Streiten answers “I actually delivered their girl.” He says looking at Skye. He was shocked when the Director informed him of what happened and he discovered that he had to save the life of the girl he helped to bring into the world.

“Really?” Hill asks surprised.

“Yes, both Melinda and Phil were suspended at the time but they had come in for a meeting with Director Fury. It was two weeks before her due date and Melinda had been ignoring contractions, but then her water broke during the meeting. May, Skye, was born in an S.H.I.E.L.D conference room.” Streiten explains.

“S.H.I.E.L.D from the start.” Hill comments with a small smile “What were Melinda and Phil like when they were married? How’d they act?” She asks curious.

“The same as they do now.” Streiten asks curious.

“Really?” Hill asks surprised.

“Really. Melinda and Phil are professionals, they don’t let their relationship affect the job, and you should know that.” He reminds her.

“I do, but these are also the same people I have known not to say a single word to each other for twelve weeks, despite the fact that they were working out of the same office; then one day go back to how things were before showing no sign that something was ever wrong.” Hill comments.

“That was the longest they had ever done that for.” Streiten says after a small laugh “I better go update them.”

“Yeah you should.” Hill says walking over to the door into Skye’s room.

“You’re going to sit with her?” Streiten asks surprised.

“I promised Melinda I would.” She says entering the room.

* * *

 

May and Coulson are still sitting in May’s bunk when Streiten calls.

“Coulson, May there’s a call for you, it’s Dr Streiten.” Ward tells them through the Coms system.

“We’ll take it in the Command Centre.” Coulson says as he gets up May right behind him. “Doc how is she?” Coulson asks concerned as soon as they enter the Command Centre.

“She is completely stable and will wake within the next few hours.” Streiten tells him.

“How bad are her injuries?” May asks concerned.

“She has more than a few cuts on her torso, stomach and legs. Most of them are minor, but two did require stiches and a small repair to where a piece of glass was lodged into an artery was also required. I fixed all of those injuries and she will make a full recovery” Streiten explains. “The injury that will take the longest time to heal will be her left arm.”

“What happened to her arm?” Coulson asks worried.

“She has broken it in two places. One break of her Radius occurred approximately when she was taken and a second break to the lower radius occurred around the time when she was escaping from Quinn.” Streiten explains.

“Skye said that she escaped from Quinn by swinging on a pipe and jumping over the Centipede soldiers. Are you saying she did that with a broken arm?” May asks shocked and also extremely impressed.

“Yes, and that is likely what caused the second break.” Streiten explains.

Coulson and May exchange a look both of them both shocked and extremely proud of what Skye did.

“How long will she have to be in a cast for?” Coulson asks.

“Approximately 8 weeks.” Streiten replies.

“Anything else?” May asks.

“No, Maria is currently with her and she should wake shorty.” He tells the worried parents.

“Thank you.” Coulson says.

“Yes, thank you Dr Streiten.” May tells him.

Streiten nods and says “I’m glad you got your girl back after all these years.” Before ending the video call.

After Streiten ends the video call neither May nor Coulson know what to say because they are both feeling so many different things, relief that their daughter is okay, guilt because she was hurt, pride because of what she managed to do and so many other things.

Without a word Coulson pulls May into a hug that seems like it will never end. For more than ten minutes they just stand in the Command Centre holding each other neither needing to say what they are feeling because they already know.  When the finally do break apart a little Coulson realises that May has a tear running down her cheek so he reaches over and gently wipes it away.

“Mel…” Coulson begins to say as he looks down into Melinda’s eyes having no idea of what he is planning on saying but feeling like he should say something, or maybe he shouldn’t he realises, maybe he should let his actions speak. Using the same hand he used to wipe away her tear minutes earlier Coulson lifts Melinda’s chin up and leans in to meet her lips with his.

To Coulson’s surprise Melinda doesn’t pull away from the kiss but instead depends it as he wraps his arms around her. For a couple of minutes the pair share the first passionate, loving kiss that they have shared in many years.

When they finally do break apart it is clear that neither of them know what to say or how to start the conversation that they both know they need to have after a kiss like that.

“I, um, should, go check the coordinates.” May says stuttering with her words when neither of them have said anything several minutes after they broke apart.

“Right, and I should check in with the team.” Coulson says.

“Right.” May says and they both leave the Command Centre from opposite doors neither sure of what to make of what just happened.

* * *

 

A few of hours after Dr Streiten finished working on Skye she wakes. And when she does it takes her a minute to realise where she is.

“Hi Skye.” Hill says to her when she notices that the girl has awoken.

“Where am I?” Skye asks confused.

“You’re at my Field office, in the medical bay. It’s been a few hours since the old store.” Hill explains.

“Where are my parents?” Skye asks as she was hoping that they would be the first people she would see when she woke.

“They’re on their way.” Hill tells her “I talked to Melinda not that long ago and they’re only a couple of hours away.” Hill explains.

“Why are you here?” Skye asks, then realises that that must have sounded rude “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be rude but you said that your one of the Assistant Directors of S.H.I.E.L.D. I just didn’t expect that someone in your position would be sitting by my bedside waiting to I woke up.” Skye quickly explains.

“It’s alright.” Hill assure Skye “I promised your mother that I wouldn’t leave you until she got here.” Hill explains.

“Oh.” Skye says not really sure how to respond to that. “I guess you must know my parents pretty well then.” Skye comments feeling like she must for her to have made that promise to her mother.

“Yeah I do.” Hill tells her “Your father and I have worked more than a few missions together and your mother was my S.O.” She explains “And I consider them both friends.” She adds.

“Really?” Skye asks surprised.

“Really.” Hill confirms.

“Are they okay?” Skye asks concerned.

“You were taken, kept prisoner and badly hurt and you’re worried about them?” Hill asks surprised.

“Of course.” Skye answers “They already lost me once and Cou-Dad.” She corrects wanting to get into the habit of calling May and Coulson, Mom and Dad “Dad said that Mom wouldn’t be able to handle loosing me again so I just need to know that they are ago.” Skye explains.

“They’ve been worried.” Hill answers. “Quinn has made it to the top of S.H.I.E.L.D’s most wanted list and the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D has been trying to find you. From what I saw and heard all they cared about was getting you back.” Hill explains.

“Did you get Quinn?” Skye asks curious.

“Were working on it.” Hill tells her “The entire city has been locked down so he won’t be able to leave, it’s only a matter of time.” Hill explains.

“Good.” Skye says “So does everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D know who I am now?” Skye asks curious.

“No.” Hill answers “Your team, Me, Director Fury and Dr Streiten are the only ones who know.” Hill explains.

“So the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D was looking for me and they had no idea why?” Skye asks surprised

“They knew that a very, very important Consultant had been taken and that it was of the highest priority that she was found.” Hill explains.

“Why? Why was I given highest priority?” Skye asks confused.

“Let me explain something to you.” Hill says moving her chair so that she is looking right at Skye “It is rare for S.H.I.E.L.D agents to have meaningful relationships, very rare, and it’s even rarer for S.H.I.E.L.D agents to have kids, your parents are the exception to that, and so are you. Your parents are very well liked in S.H.I.E.L.D and they have achieved amazing things both together and apart but the most amazing thing is their relationship. Even with everything that has happened between them they still have a working partnership that most agents dream of someday having.  Melinda and Phil are S.H.I.E.L.D, they are everything that a good S.H.I.E.L.D agent should one day hope to be. You are their daughter, if someone hurts you then they hurt your parents, and if you hurt Melinda May or Phil Coulson then you hurt S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinn taking you doesn’t just make him an enemy of you and your parents but of S.H.I.E.L.D itself. You may not be an agent yet, you may choose never to be, but whether you do or not doesn’t matter because you were born apart of S.H.I.E.L.D Skye, and you always will be and we don’t allow people to hurt one of our own.” Hill explains.

“I don’t know what to say.” Skye says quietly not sure what to make of Agent’s Hill’s words as she feels a tear roll down her face because.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Hill tells her.

Skye sits in silence for a while trying to comprehend what Hill just told her and what it means. She has been quite for more than ten minutes when there is knock on the door.

“Enter.” Hill says as she draws her weapon just as a precaution.

“Sir.” Hill says quickly re holstering her gun when she realises that it the Director walking in.

“Skye this is…” Hill begins to say but Skye cuts her off.

“Director Nick Fury. I recognize you from the pictures of you holding me when I was a baby.” Skye comments though she also recognizes him from many other things.

“It’s very nice to see you again.” Director Fury tells Skye. “I thought I would just stop by to see how you are feeling.” The Director tells Skye.

“I’m good Sir.” Skye tells him “My arm hurts a little and so does my stomach, but it’s not hurting nearly as much as it was so I’m glad about that.” Skye tells him a little nervous because it is the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D she is talking to.  

“I understand that you managed to escape from Quinn despite that pain, even having a broken arm.” Fury comments.

“I had to Sir. I had no other option.” Skye tells him.

“Well you did good.” Fury tells her “I am also her to tell you that Quinn was apprehended by a S.H.I.E.L.D team about half an hour ago. He will pay for what he did to you and hopefully he can lead us to the mysterious Clairvoyant.” He says.

“I’m glad Sir.” Skye comments.

“Hill would you give us a minute.” Fury says to Hill

“I promised Melinda I wouldn’t leave.” Hill tells Fury not wanting to break her promise to her S.O.

“It will just be for a couple of minutes.” Fury assures Hill and Hill reluctantly leaves.

“Skye I owe you an apology.” Fury tells her once Hill has left “Almost twenty five years ago when you were taken it was my call that made your case no longer active. I did that because I had no leads. The last lead I had to what could have happened to you was that of an 0-8-4 baby girl in China but after that baby and the team were killed or so I believed, your father has since informed me that that was in fact you. If I had a lead to where you were I would have investigated it, but I didn’t. I’m sorry that it has taken this long for you to be back with you parents.” Fury tells her.

“Thank you Sir, it means a lot.” Skye says not sure about what else to say to one of the most powerful people in the world apologising to her because of something that happened when she was a baby.

Fury gives Skye a nod and then leaves the room without a word, once he does Hill comes back in.

“Good news, you parents are only an hour out.” Hill tells Skye sitting down in the chair she was sitting in before.

“Why don’t you get some sleep?” Hill suggest when she notices that Skye can barely keep her eyes open “That way when you wake your parents might just be here.” She comments.

“Yeah, I might do that.” Skye says before letting her eyes stay closed and falling asleep.

* * *

 

An hour later when she gets word that they have arrived Hill sneaks out of Skye’s room and goes to the runway to meet Coulson, May and their team.

“Where is she?” Coulson asks Hill as soon as he sees her.

“Follow me.” Hill says leading May, Coulson, Ward and Fitzsimmons.

“She was asleep when I left.” Hill informs them as they reach Skye’s room. “She’s right in there.”

“Thank you for staying with her.” Melinda tells Hill.

“You don’t need to thank me for that Melinda.” Hill tells her “I’ll leave you guys alone. I’ll be looking for Director Fury if you need me, I believe he is still around here somewhere.” She says before leaving the team.

“We’ll wait out here.” Ward says walking over and taking a seat at chairs across from Skye’s room.

“Yes, no point in crowding her.” Simmons says knowing what Ward is doing.

“Yeah, no point all of us going in there.” Fitz says sitting down next to Simmons.

“Thank you.” Coulson tells the team and he and Melinda enter the room.

Remembering that Hill said she was asleep May and Coulson enter Skye’s room quietly neither of them wanting to wake her up.

Without a word they each grab a chair and sit down on opposite sides of Skye’s bed glad that she is with them and safe once more.

 

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	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

* * *

 

May and Coulson have been by Skye’s side for about two hours when she starts to show signs of waking.

“Skye?” Coulson asks as both he and May stand up. “Skye can you hear me?” Coulson asks.

“Dad?” Skye asks as she opens her eyes and looking up at her father “Mom?” she asks turning to look at May.

“Yeah it’s us. Hey Baby Girl.” Coulson tells her.

“I’m sorry, I should have listened to you I shouldn’t have gone, I’m so sorry.” Skye says becoming upset. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” May says brushing Skye’s hair out of her face, “That’s not important now. All that matters is that you are okay.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I was stupid and Miles is dead because of me.” Skye says beginning to cry as apart from her initial reaction to seeing Miles’s dead body she hasn’t let herself feel what she is feeling in regards to his death.

“Miles is dead because of Lard, Quinn and The Clairvoyant, not you.” Coulson tells his daughter as he sits down on the edge of her bed. “That’s not on you, that’s on them.” He tells her.

“If they didn’t want me then he wouldn’t have been killed.” Skye points out.

“Miles’s death is tragic and it shouldn’t have happened but it was Lard’s decision to kill him, your friend Anna was there when it happened and she said that Quinn said killing Miles was never part of the plan. Miles’s death happened because of Lard, not you. Lard was a bad guy. The blame for Miles’s death rests with him, no one else.” Melinda tells Skye.

Skye just nods, not saying anymore because it doesn’t matter what her parents tell her she will still blame herself for Miles’s death.

“Are you in pain?” Coulson asks concerned as he notices Skye wince when she tries to sit up a bit more a few minutes later.

“A little, but it’s nothing much.” Skye assures her parents “Guess I won’t be able to have a decent shower for a while.” Skye comments looking down at her S.H.I.E.L.D blue cast.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Your cast is waterproof.” May tells her daughter.

“Really?” Skye asks surprised and also glad.

“Really, still itches like a normal one though, but you don’t have to worry about getting it wet.” Coulson explains.

“Guess that’s one good thing.” Skye comments. “Do you know how long I have to have it on for?” Skye asks curious.

“Dr Streiten said about eight weeks, but I’m sure he’ll come and talk to you at some point.” Coulson explains.

“Great.” Skye says sarcastically. “But I guess that’s what I get for swinging on a pipe when I knew my arm was hurt.” She comments and Melinda and Coulson exchange a look debating without words if they should question Skye about what happened when she was taken.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Coulson asks hesitantly not sure if he should ask or not.

“Um, yeah okay.” Skye says uncertainly.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“No it’s fine, I’m going to have to recount what happened more than once, I know the protocol. I’d prefer telling you guys first.” Skye tells her parents.

 “Okay, if that’s what you want.” Coulson tells her.

“It is.” Skye says, “When I entered the warehouse Sam was there and he told me that the rising tide didn’t want me and I asked who did but before there was the sound of a silence gunshot, Sam collapsed and Quinn walked out from where he was hiding. Before I could do anything two Centipede soldiers had grabbed my arms and were dragging me to Quinn. I still have no idea where they came from. I tried to get free and I guess I tried to twist my arm just as the solider tightened his hold. That’s when I broke my arm, the crack echoed throughout the warehouse and hurt like hell.” Skye explains, “They got me to Quinn who injected me with, I’m guessing a sedative and next thing I know I woke up in a room with no windows and only one door tied to a chair.” Skye says and then beings to explain the whole story about what happened with Quinn and her escape. Neither May nor Coulson stop her to ask a question because they both know the easiest way to get through a story like that is with no question.

“So you think that Quinn told you more than the Clairvoyant wanted him to.” Coulson comments when Skye finishes explaining.

“Definitely. I think he was meant to tell me some of it but not everything that he said.” Skye explains “I wouldn’t be surprised if Quinn has lost favour with the Clairvoyant.” Skye explains.

“Skye what you did today was incredible.” May tells her daughter “I wish that you didn’t have to do any of it but the way you handled yourself the way you managed to get out of that situation was incredible, I’m so proud of you sweetheart.” May tells her daughter.

Skye is shocked by her mother’s words, in her life she has never been told that she made someone proud. “Thank you.” Skye says quietly a tear coming to her eye. “I couldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for you. The whole time I was escaping it was your voice in my head telling me what to do. I wouldn’t have gotten out of there if it wasn’t for you.” Skye tells her mother.

Not sure what to say to that May just stands up and hugs her daughter. Once May and Skye break apart Skye sits up a bit more and puts her arms around Coulson giving him a hug as well.

“So any idea when I can get out of here? I really don’t like hospitals, even S.H.E.I.L.D medical bays.” Skye comments.

“She gets that form you.” May and Coulson say at the same time causing all three of them to laugh.

“You have to stay here at least until Dr Streiten says you are okay to leave.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Fun.” Skye says sarcastically.

“Ward and FitzSimmons are outside, think you are up for the company?” May asks thinking that maybe they could help her forget just for a little while where she is.

“Definitely.” Skye answers really wanting to see her friends, her family.

“I’ll get them.” Coulson says getting up and walking out of the room.  A minute later he walks back in with FitzSimmons and Ward right behind him.

“You doing okay Rookie?” Ward asks as Simmons gives her a hug.

“Yeah, I’m doing okay.” Skye tells him.

“Glad you’re okay.” Fitz tells her.

“Thanks Fitz.” Skye responds. “But I do have eight weeks in this thing.” She says referring to her cast “I better still be able to type with it.” She comments.

“I’m sure you will.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Hopefully.” Skye comments “I’ll manage if I can’t, I always do. I could always threaten to hit Ward with it to entertain myself.” She ponders.

“Don’t even think about it.” Ward tells her.

“Relax I was kidding.” Skye assures him “Mostly.” She quietly adds.

“Sir?” Ward asks Coulson.

“Skye no hitting members of the team with your cast.” Coulson tells her, and Ward gets a little smug smile on his face, “Unless they deserve it.” Coulson adds causing the smug look to disappear from Ward’s face.

“That’s not fair.” Ward comments, sounding almost like a child, as Skye gets a smug smile on her face.

“Permission from Dad, that’s all I need.” Skye says with a smile.

“Do you realise what you just started?” May asks Coulson, knowing that there is no possible outcome of this ending well.

“What?” Coulson asks confused.

“Skye no hitting Ward with your cast, Ward no provoking Skye to cause her to hit you with cast, Phil, stop encouraging them.” Melinda tells the three.

“Yes, May/Mom/Melinda.” 

“Sounds like now would be a good time for an interruption.” Hill’s voice says from the doorway.

“Please.” Melinda comments “I don’t believe you’ve met Agents Fitz and Simmons, FitzSimmons this is Agent Maria Hill.” She introduces.

“Nice to meet you both.” Hill says shaking both the hands.

“You too.” FitzSimmons both responds.

“What’s up?” Coulson asks.

“Fury wanted to speak to you and Melinda when you have a moment.” She explains “And Skye I was wondering if you would be okay if we schedule a de-brief for tomorrow.” She says to Skye.

“Yeah, that would be fine.” Skye tells her.

“Good.” Hill says “He’s taken over my office whenever you’re ready.” Hill tells Coulson and May.

“Go now.” Skye tells her parents.

“Are you sure?” Melinda asks concerned.

“Yeah, I’ve got Ward and FitzSimmons to keep me company, and I promise I won’t hit anyone with my cast. Go see what the big guy wants.” Skye tells them.

May and Coulson exchange a look, neither of them really wanting to leave their daughter at the moment.

“I’ll be fine, promise.” Skye assures her parents.

“Okay.” Melinda says “We’ll try not to be too long.” She says before her, Coulson and Hill leave the room.

“Honestly how bad was it?” Skye asks once her parents are out of hearing range.

“What do you mean?” Simmons ask confused.

“Mom and Dad, how bad where they when I was gone?” Skye explains “One of the first things that Dad told me after I found out about them was that Mom wouldn’t be able to handle loosing me a second time, so how bad was it?” Skye explains.

“So they’re Mom and Dad now?” Simmons asks curious and attempting to distract Skye from her question.

“Yeah it feels right, I think it’s going to be a little while before it’s just naturally what I say, and I know what you’re doing.” Skye tells Jemma “Was it that bad?” She asks feeling guilty.

“They had their moments.” Ward tells Skye “But they stuck together and helped each other through it, but don’t even think about scaring any of us like that again.” Ward tells her.

“I’ll do my best.” Skye tells him. “I’m sorry that I made you all worry so much.”

“Never apologise for that.” Ward tells her “Never. We’re a team, we worry about each other it’s what we do.”

“Yeah I guess we do.” Skye comments “So Commander Hill said looking for me was the highest priority, what exactly does that mean?” She asks curious.

“Basically that everyone was working on leads to find you.” Ward explains.

“And that if you had have been missing for twelve hours longer your Dad was going to ignore orders and call in the Avengers.” Simmons adds.

“Seriously?” Skye asks surprised “I thought that none of them could know that he was alive.”

“They’re not supposed to.” Fitz explains “But Coulson doesn’t care about that, he would have done whatever it took to get you back.”

“Do you think that’s why Director Fury wants to talk them? Punish them for all the protocols they broke?” Skye asks concerned not wanting her parents to be in trouble because of her.

“I doubt it.” Ward tells her “Director Fury was breaking protocols to, and Coulson didn’t actually call in the Avengers. Fury told him to wait the twenty four hours and that’s what he was doing, I have a feeling Coulson really wanted to call them in a lot sooner but didn’t want to push Fury too far.” Ward explains.

“It’s kind of cool, I mean I could have had Iron Man and Thor looking for me.” She comments looking impressed.

“What is with Woman and Thor? That guys not that great.” Ward comments causing both Simmons and Skye to look at him completely shocked and with a look that Ward can’t describe.

“Step back slowly.” Fitz jokes grabbing on the back of Ward’s jacket and pulling him backwards.

“Okay, completely ignoring Wards lack of taste because seriously. Thanks guys, for everything you did.” She tells them.

“No need for thankyous either.” Ward tells her.

“So because this is a special S.H.I.E.L.D cast does that mean that you guys can’t sign it?” Skye asks the others “Because I remember when I was a kid and some of the other kids at the orphanage broke bones and I always thought it was so cool when the rest of us would sign there casts.”

“Having a cast signed and drawn on is a rite of passage.” Fitz says as he reaches into Simmons’s bag and pulls out a baggie of markers “We would never deny you that, and even better these can be erased if we cover your arm too quickly.” Fitz explains.

“Awesome.” Skye says with a huge smile as she attempts to sit up properly with difficultly.

“Here, let me help.” Ward says walking over and helping Skye up so that she is sitting up with her legs crossed “That doesn’t hurt to bad does it?” He asks concerned.

“No, its fine. Thanks.” Skye tells him. “Now all three of you, start drawing.” She instructs and Simmons and Fitz do that Fitz sits down on her left side while Simmons sits in front of her, and Skye leans her arm against her legs. “You too Ward.”

“No.” Ward tells her “I’m quite fine watching the three of you.” He comments.

“But I want you too.” Skye says attempting to give him her best puppy dog look “Please. You have to.”

“Yes, you have Agent Ward.” Simmons tells him giving him the same look that Skye is giving him, so Ward looks to Fitz’s for help.

“Sorry Mate, but after your Thor comment I would do what they say.” He tells him.

“Fine.” Ward says and he reluctantly sits down on Skye’s right side and picks up a marker. 

* * *

 

While the four younger agents are downstairs May and Coulson are up with Director Fury and Commander Hill getting an update on Quinn and what they know.

“So he’s still not talking.” Coulson comments.

“No, which isn’t exactly surprising considering everything we got him on.” Fury comments.

“We need to get him or Rania to talk.” Coulson comments “They are our only link to the Clairvoyant and I want him found, because going after me is one thing. Going after my daughter is a whole other altogether.” Coulson says.

“We’ll get one of them to talk Phil, we just have to find the right approach.” Hill tells him. “And before either of you suggest it that approach will not be either of you going in there. Not yet anyway.” Hill tells Melinda and Coulson. “Clear?”

“Clear.” Both May and Coulson says although neither of them like it.

“How’s Skye doing?” Hill asks wanting to change the subject.

“Okay, considering.” Coulson tells her “She blames herself for Miles’s death and for getting captured. I think it will be a little while before she is actually good again.” Coulson explains.

“Understandable, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.” Maria tells her old friends.

“We will. Thanks.” May tells Maria. “If there isn’t anything else I would like to get back to her.”

“Of course, dismissed.” Fury tells the worried parents and Coulson and May leave the room. Fury having an odd look on his face as he watches them go.

“What’s with the look Sir?” Maria asks confused.

“For the first time in a very, very long time I’m starting to see tiny bits of the person Melinda was before Bahrain, who she was before May was taken.” Fury explains.

“Sir, is it true that Phil and Melinda are the reason that the no fraternization policy was introduced at the academy?” Hill asks curious as she has wondered if there is any truth to the rumour for a very long time, “Because I would have thought that they were the perfect example of being able to have the perfect private and professional relationship.” Hill comments.

“Exactly.” Fury tells her “Phil and Melinda’s relationship is one of a kind. I’ve never seen another like them, Barton and Romanoff are the only people who have come close and even they aren’t like Melinda and Phil. They started out as friends, got married, had a daughter together, grieved and survived their daughter being taken, were divorced and because friends again. That whole time what ever happened in their personal relationship never affected their partnership, you’ve worked with them you’ve seen just what they are capable of together and just what their partnership is, but like I said, it’s one of a kind. I don’t know if there will ever be another partnership like Melinda May and Phil Coulson and I didn’t want to risk good ones being ruined by the attempt. So yes the rule was introduced because of them.” Fury explains, then leaves Hill alone to her thoughts.

* * *

 

Melinda and Coulson walk back to Skye’s room in silence. When the get there Coulson is about to enter when Melinda notices something through the window, “Stop, look.” She says pointing to where Skye, Ward, and FitzSimmons are all on the bed talking and laughing.

“They remind me of another four person team I used to know.” Coulson comments.

“Let’s hope they get in a lot less trouble.” Melinda comments knowing exactly who he is talking about.

“Let’s.” Coulson comments “But I don’t think that will be possible.” He says as he watches the group with a fond smile on his face.

“Well at least we know for sure that they can’t get into more.” Melinda comments as she also watches with a found smile.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. If there was anyone who could it would be them.” Coulson comments and the pair drift into silence.

“Skye said to stop standing out here and come join the party.” Simmons says opening the door and sticking her head out to talk to May and Coulson.

“We’ll be right in.” Melinda tells her.  

“Melinda, are we going to talk about what happened earlier?” Coulson asks.

“Yeah, we are.” Melinda tells him “But not right now.” Melinda says entering Skye room, Coulson right behind her.

 

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	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

After her de-briefing the next morning Skye is allowed to leave the medical bay and head back to the bus though she is under strict orders from Dr Streiten to rest, not to do any physical activity including moving out of bed or off a couch for at least a few days and for those few days the team is going to remain at Hill’s base just in case.

May and Skye are sitting on one of the couches in the main level of the bus while. FitzSimmons and Coulson are setting something up and Ward is getting snacks.

“Whose genius idea was this?” Skye asks her mother curious.

“Your fathers.” May answers.

“Of course it was.” Skye comments “A video game competition with some of the most competitive people there is, how does he think this is going end well?” Skye asks her mother curious.

“It’s only Mario Carts.” Melinda tells her daughter not seeing the problem.

“That’s the worse game that we could play.” Skye tells her “Anyway we can only play with four people at a time so are we going to take turns or what?” Skye asks curious.

“That would be what Fitz is currently doing, making some changes so that more people can play at once.” Simmons says walking over and sitting down.

“How is he? You know what I don’t want to know.” Skye comments, wincing as she tries to get a bit more comfortable.

“Are you okay?” May asks concerned noticing the winch.

“I’m okay.” Skye assures her mother having to fight not to smile at the concern that one day she is sure she will find annoying but at the moment likes.

“Done.” Fitz says walking over and handing everyone a controller. “Six people can now play.” He says as he sits on the chair next to Simmons and Coulson sits down on the couch with Melinda and Skye.

“Ward, hurry up.” Coulson tells the specialist.

“On my way Sir.” Ward tells him walking back over and placing a lot of different snack foods on the table before sitting down on one of the empty chairs.

“So how about we make this a bit more interesting.” Skye comments knowing that everyone is going to be overly competitive anyway so they might as well make it worth it.

“What do you have in mind?” Coulson asks.

“Winner gets to choose two movies and we all have to watch them both, no complaints.” Skye comments looking directly at Ward as she comments.

“Why are you looking at me?” Ward asks confused.

“Because whenever we watch a move together you spend the first hour complaining about it.” Skye reminds him.

“I do not.” Ward says.

“Yes, you do.” Skye and FitzSimmons, knowing from experience that that is what Ward does, say.

“Well even if I do, it’s better than you three quoting the moving as you watch.” Ward tells Skye and FitzSimmons.

“We don’t always do that.” Skye tells him “You on the other hand always complains about what you are watching.”

Before Ward has a chance to once again dispute the accusations they are distracted by the ringing of Melinda’s phone.

“New mission?” Skye asks her mother.

“No, it’s nothing.” Melinda says looking and her phone and switching it to silent instead of answering it or pressing ignore something that Coulson finds odd because the only persons calls that he has known Melinda to ignore or avoid are his, and he’s not the one calling her, “If it was a mission Coulson would be getting the call not me.” Melinda explains to her daughter “Why don’t we start.” She suggests because without even looking at him she can feel the look that Coulson is giving her.

“Sounds good.” Ward comments.                  

“So does winner picking the movies.” Fitz adds.

“Shouldn’t we make sure that everyone knows how to play first?” Skye suggests.

“We’ve all played together before.” Fitz comments as he knows for a fact that while on the plane they have.

“Mom and Dad haven’t.” Skye points out.

“Skye it’s a driving game, I think we figure it out.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“If you’re sure.” Skye comments and both Coulson and May nod.

“Then everyone pick your characters.” Fitz comments “We’ll do a tournament. Overall winner can pick the movies.” He says and the others nod.

* * *

 

For half an hour the team play each other, as they do more than once they hear the vibrations from incoming calls from Melinda’s phone. When it starts ringing she doesn’t even look up from her controller though ever time it rings Coulson wonders more and more who calls she could be avoiding.

Once they finally finish the competition it ends with surprisingly Simmons in the first place, Coulson in second, May and Ward drawn for third, Skye in forth and Fitz in fifth.

“Don’t go mad with the power Jemma, pick something good.” Skye tells her friend.

“Does the no complaining rule still apply if she picks a chick flick?” Ward asks curious.

“The Thor comment yesterday and now this, you really don’t know when to keep your mouth shut do you?” Fitz asks Ward curious as Simmons, Skye and Melinda don’t look too impressed with Ward’s comment.

“Thor comment?” Coulson ask interested.

“Yep, Ward here said that Thor’s not the great. Can you believe it?” Skye explains to her father “Jemma, I’ve got an idea.” Skye says whispering something to Jemma.

“Hey, no helping.” Ward tells her “Its Simmons’s choice, you suggesting something is against the rules.” He argues.

“No it’s not.” Skye tells him.

“Do you have it?” Simmons asks Skye curious.

“Yep, my bunk second cupboard.” Skye tells her friend.

“I’ll go get it.” Simmons says heading to Skye’s bunk.

“Tasha?” Coulson asks finally getting a look at Melinda’s caller ID when her phone starts to ring again “Since when do you ignore calls from Tasha?” He asks surprised.

“Drop it.” Melinda tells Coulson.

“You once answered a call from Tasha when you were fighting three enemy assassins at once, and now you’re ignoring her calls. What’s up?” Coulson asks concerned as Melinda avoiding Tasha’s calls is very unusual.

“Not now Phil.” Melinda tells him and Coulson actually drops it but he can’t help but wonder why Melinda would be avoiding calls from her best friend, or the closest thing to a best friend, with the exception of their respective partners, either of them is capable of having.

“Who’s Tasha?” Skye asks her mother confused.

“I’ll tell you later.” Melinda responds.

“Got it.” Simmons says coming back out from Skye’s bunk and showing of the DVD.

“The Parent Trap, are you serious?” Ward asks shocked and dread also present in his voice.

“No complaints.” Skye tells him “And for your information The Parent Trap is an awesome movie. It was the first ever movie I saw at the cinema. I’ve loved it ever since.” Skye explains as the Brody’s took her to see it her second week with them.

“She’s right it’s a really good move.” Simmons comments. “And if I remember correctly it is my choice.” She says before putting the movie on.

“I’ll go make the popcorn.” Fitz says standing up.

“I’ll help.”  Ward says also standing up and the pair walk over to kitchen.

* * *

 

The viewing of the parent trap goes well until Ward makes one too many comments and Skye throws popcorn at him which he retaliates and within a couple of minutes an all our popcorn war has broken out, which only stops when Skye falls of the couch trying to avoid being hit by both popcorn and a pillow thrown by Fitz.

“Are you okay?” Coulson asks concerned as he and Melinda rush to Skye’s side.

“I’m so sorry Skye.” Fitz tells her.

“I’m okay.” Skye assures as her parents help her back onto the couch. “And it’s fine Fitz.” She assures “I’d be more worried about the plane.” Skye comments as she looks and realises just how much of a mess has been made. “This is going to be hell to clean.”

“It’s your fault, you’re the one who started it.” Ward informs Skye.

“Actually I think a case could be made that you were in fact the one who started it.” Skye argues.

“Me? How did I start it?” Ward asks.

“You broke the rules.” Simmons tells him “You complained.”

“So what because I complained, this whole thing is my fault?” Ward asks surprised.

“Yep.” Skye and FitzSimmons reply.

“Forget about whose fault it is, let’s just clean this place up.” Coulson orders.

“Don’t even think about it.” Simmons tells Skye when she realises that her friend intends to help clean up.

“Why not?” Skye asks.

“Rest remember, Doctors orders.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“You’re one to talk, you didn’t listen to your doctors’ orders.” Skye reminds him “I seem to remember you sparring with Mom when you were still meant to be healing.”

“True, but if you remember when I was told that I was on bed rest I listened.” Coulson points out.

“Good point.” Skye mutters to herself knowing that her father is right.

“Are you alright?” May asks concerned a few minutes later when she notices that Skye is leaning against the couch with her eyes closed.

“Yeah, I’m okay, just a little bit of pain, and I’m kind of tired.” Skye admits.

“Then how about you get some sleep.” May suggests and Skye nods.

“Come on.” May says helping Skye up and to her bunk.

“So who’s Tasha?” Skye asks her mother once she has helped her into her bed.

“A friend.” Melinda says sitting down on the edge of Skye’s bed “A really good one.”

“Then I don’t get it why are you avoiding her calls? And why does Dad look so surprised that you are?” Skye asks confused.

“I have a few reasons why I’m avoiding her calls but the main reason is because I don’t want to lie to her.” Melinda explains.

“What do you mean?” Skye asks becoming more confused the more her mother says.

“Tasha’s full name is Natasha Romanoff.” Melinda explains as she gets up and shuts the door to Skye’s bunk before sitting back down again.

“As in Black Widow, Avenger Natasha Romanoff?” Skye asks surprised.

“Yeah.” May answers.

“Wow, I mean I knew that Dad knew the Avengers but I didn’t realise that you did as well.” Skye comments surprised.

“I don’t, not all of them.” Melinda explains “I know Tasha, and Clint.” She says “Clint Barton, Hawkeye.” She adds.

“Wow.” Skye comments surprised then realises something “She doesn’t know that Dad’s alive.”

“No she doesn’t.” Melinda confirms “And I don’t want to have to pretend that he isn’t when talking to her.”

“She’s a good friend then.” Skye realises as she knows her mother well enough to know that she keeps a lot of secrets and is okay with keeping most of them so if she doesn’t want to lie to Natasha Romanoff then they must be close.

“A very good friend.” Melinda confirms.

“How did you guys meet?” Skye asks always interested to hear more stories about her parent’s pasts.

“Just after Clint brought her into S.H.I.E.L.D, the two of them, your father and I became a team.” Melinda explains “Fury thought that having two sets of highly skilled and effective partners working together would be good for handling difficult and dangerous situations, we became great at it.” Melinda explains “We handled the missions that other agents couldn’t or wouldn’t, in some cases shouldn’t, and we became friends, good friends.” Melinda explains.

“How long were you guys a team for?” Skye asks curious.

“Four years.” Melinda answers “But we didn’t always do all of our mission together, more than few times we split into our partners.” She explains.

“Did you and Natasha ever do missions just the two of you?” Skye asks curious.

“A couple of times.” Melinda answers with a small smile “But Fury didn’t send us in just the two of us unless he absolutely had to, not because he didn’t think we could handle ourselves because he knew we could, but because I don’t think he liked having to deal with Phil and Clint without us.” Melinda explains.

“Why did you guys stop being a team?” Skye asks curious “What changed?”

“I did.” Melinda answers quietly.

“Bahrain?” Skye asks hesitantly not sure if she should bring it up or not as her mother has never mentioned it.

“What has your father told you about what happened in Bahrain?” Melinda asks curious as she is positive that Coulson has told her something.

“He told me that you guys went to see a girl who had powers and things went south. That you took it upon yourself to get your people out and you did, but you wouldn’t tell him how. He said that when you came out you weren’t the same person that you were when you went it.” Skye explains.

“After Bahrain, after some time away, I went back to field work for a while, probably longer than I should have.” Melinda comments “But Clint, Tasha, Your Father and I weren’t often assigned as a team because Fury began to feel that we could do more good with our respective partnerships. The few missions that we did work together were big and even bigger and more dangerous than what we used to do together.” May explains, “It was during one of the few missions that Tasha and I worked together that I realised I couldn’t do it anymore, I couldn’t be in the field.” Melinda explains.

“What happened?” Skye asks and the second she sees her mother’s reaction she realises she shouldn’t have asked “I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Never be sorry for asking me something.” Melinda tells her daughter “But you need to know that I may not always be able to answer you.”  Melinda explains knowing that there are things like Bahrain and what happened during that last mission with Tasha that she will never talk about, not even with Skye.

“That’s cool, I get it.” Skye assures Melinda.  

“Thank you.” Melinda says “After I left the field on a couple of occasions I helped your father when he was Tasha’s and Clint’s handlers for missions, I even was a handler for all three of them when they were desperate a couple of times, though not even the director is aware of that.” Melinda explains.

“Really?” Skye asks surprised.

“Really.” Melinda assures. “Your father, Clint and Tasha covered for me. They knew that if Fury knew I was handler for them then there is no reason why I couldn’t be handler for others, but that’s not what I wanted. The only reason I was their handler when they needed it was because they were my team, even if I wasn’t in the field anymore they’re still my team, just like the people on this bus are and always will be.” Melinda explains.

“It’s not fair that Fury won’t tell them.” Skye comments. “They should be told about Dad especially with how close you guys were.” Skye comments.

“Yeah, they should. They took his death hard.” Melinda reveals.

“So you’ve talked to them since Dad died?” Skye asks.

“Yeah.” Melinda answers “Do you remember when Phil was hurt and you asked me whether I was told that he died?” Melinda asks curious.

“Yeah, you said that Director Fury came and saw you a few days after and he told you that Dad was alive.” Skye remembers.

“After the battle Tasha and Clint came to see me to tell me that Phil died, remember how I told you that I heard rumours around S.H.I.E.L.D about an Agent who died before the battle, an Agent who knew the Avengers and whose death brought them together, that I knew it was Phil, but at the same time I refused to believe it?” Melinda asks.

“Yeah.” Skye tells her mother confused about what she is saying.

“I did hear the rumours the day he died, the day of the battle, and I did refuse to believe them. When I finally went home I waited for a call from him to tell me that the rumours were wrong that he was alive, but it didn’t come, Tasha and Clint did instead. They told me what happened and I didn’t believe them either.” Melinda admits “Not until Tasha finally managed to get through to me, and I didn’t take it well.” Melinda comments, remembering what happened and what most likely would have happened if it wasn’t for Tasha and Clint.

“What do you mean?” Skye asks worried.

“Doesn’t matter.” Melinda answers, not wanting to share that specific detail with Skye.

“Mom?” Skye asks concerned.

“I promise Skye, it doesn’t matter.” Melinda assures her daughter “Clint and Tasha stayed with me for a few days, until they got their latest mission. It was hours after they left that Director Fury came to see me and he told me that Phil was alive. I don’t know why he didn’t come see me until then, I don’t know if he was waiting for Tasha and Clint to leave or whether he was waiting until Phil was okay, but it was days I thought that he was dead.” Melinda explains

“Why didn’t you tell me all this when we talked when Dad was hurt?’ Skye asks curious and a little hurt that her mother didn’t tell her everything.

“Because you were worried enough about him, I didn’t want you to worry about me as well.” Melinda explains “Your Dad doesn’t know that Tasha and Clint were the ones who told me he died, I told him that Fury told me he was alive a few days after the battle, I skipped over the days between the battle and Fury coming to talk to me.” Melinda explains.

“I get why you didn’t tell me everything I do but next time you tell me a story, if you can, tell me the whole thing, don’t skip over the parts that you think will make me worry.” Skye requests.

“I’ll try.” May tells her daughter knowing that she can’t make a promise about this

“Good.” Skye responds knowing that is the closest thing to a definite answer she is going to get.

“Apart from you avoiding her calls now have you talked to Natasha since then? Or Clint?” Skye asks curious.

“I talked to them a few times in the time between Fury telling me that Phil was alive and joining the team, but it was easier then because I hadn’t actually seen Phil again. I don’t want to lie to them, I don’t want to have to.” Melinda explains.

“Some of these rules are really stupid.” Skye says followed by a loud yawn.

“They can be.” Melinda admits “I’ll let you get some sleep.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Mom.” Skye says before she can exit.

“Yeah?”

“I like hearing your stories. I know they must be hard for you to tell them, so thanks.” Skye tells her mother grateful to understand more about her parents and their past.

“You’re right it is hard to tell them, but I like sharing them with you.” Melinda says before turning the light off to Skye’s bunk and leaving.

“How much did you hear?” Melinda asks Coulson curious as he is standing on the other side of the door when she exits.

“Enough.” Coulson answers “Melinda, I..” Coulson begins to say but Melinda cuts him off “Upstairs, now.” She says angrily, knowing that outside their daughters room isn’t the place for this conversation.

“Think she’s going to punch him again?” Fitz asks curious from where he, Ward and Simmons are still cleaning up the popcorn and pretending not to be watching what is going on which they have been doing ever since Coulson started to listen in on what Melinda and Skye were saying.

“I doubt it.” Ward answers “But let’s hope they don’t have a loud fight, that’s the last thing that Skye needs to wake up to.

* * *

 

As soon as Melinda and Coulson get upstairs they close the door behind them because they want to restrict how much those downstairs hear.

“I told you I would tell you why I was avoiding Tasha’s calls later.” Melinda tells Coulson angrily.

“No you told Skye you would tell her later, all you told me was, not now.” Coulson explains, “I’m sorry for eavesdropping I know I shouldn’t have, but I was worried. You never avoid Tasha’s calls, never, and now all day you have been. I was worried.” Coulson explains as a way of an explanation.

“It’s no okay.” Melinda tells him “But I understand if you had been doing some just as unusual as me avoiding Tasha’s calls I probably would have done the same.” She admits.

“She doesn’t know your back in the field does she?” Coulson asks because it would make sense if she didn’t.

“No.” Melinda admits. “I came back to the field because of you and she doesn’t know that you’re alive.”

“Does ‘not taking it well’ mean what I think it means?” Coulson asks concerned a couple of minutes later.

“Phil...” Melinda begins to say but Coulson cuts her off.

“Please, does it mean what I think it means?” He asks needing to know.

“Yes.” Melinda admits quietly.

“Oh god, Melinda.” Coulson says “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Coulson tells her.

“It okay.” Melinda says walking over to Coulson and grabbing his hand “I’m okay, Tasha and Clint were with me, and you know what that means.” She tells him.

“Yeah I do.” Coulson says as he uses the hand that Melinda is holding to pull her into his arms.

For several minutes Coulson and May just stand there in each other’s arms “I suppose now would be a good time to talk about the kiss.” Coulson comments.

“It’s as good of a time as any.” Melinda comments as a small smile appears on her face. “I don’t know what it meant, but I want to figure it out.” Melinda tells Coulson.

“Really?” Coulson asks wanting to make sure that she is sure because that’s what he wants too.

“If you’re willing.” May tells Coulson.

“Yes.” Coulson tells her before kissing Melinda.

“We can’t tell Skye, not until we’ve figured things out.” Coulson comments once they break apart.

“Agreed.” Melinda tells him. “We should go help with the cleaning, we did make some of the mess.” Melinda comments.

“You’re right. We should.” Coulson comments.

“See you down there.” Melinda says moving out of Coulson’s arms and walking across to the door.

“Melinda you do realise that if you keep avoiding her calls before too long Tasha is going to come and find you.” Coulson comments.

“That’s what I’m counting on.” Melinda says before unlocking the door and leaving the office.

“Of course it is.” Coulson says following her downstairs with a smile on his face.

 

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	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** THANK YOU SO MUCH. This is the first of two chapters that I had to re-write and I’m not sure if it’s as good as it was but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

* * *

 

As Coulson walks down the stairs he swears that he can hear someone crying. He pauses at the bottom of the stairs to try and figure out where the sound is coming from.

“What’s wrong?” Melinda asks confused walking back over to him.

“Do you hear that?” Coulson asks her.

Melinda pauses for a minute and like Coulson she hears the sound of someone crying “Skye.” She realises.

“I’ll check on her.” Coulson says. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to crowed her.” He comments.

Melinda nods agreeing with him “I’ll handle those three.” Melinda says referring to Ward, and FitzSimmons who instead of cleaning up the popcorn seem to be trying to see who can pile it up the highest.

“Skye?” Coulson asks knocking on her door, “Skye, can I come in?” Coulson asks and he hears a faint “Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Coulson asks Skye curiously as he sits down on the edge of her bed, unknowingly in the same place Melinda was not too long ago. As he does he notices that she is holding her phone in her pasted hand which has a picture of her and Miles on the screen. 

“I know he wasn’t who I thought he was and he lied to me, but for a long time he was everything, all I had.” Skye tells her father “And now he’s dead because of me.” Skye tells Coulson moving so that she is on her back looking up at him “I know you and Mom told me that his death wasn’t my fault and that I shouldn’t blame myself but I do Dad, I do. It hurts so much and I miss him and I just….” Skye says before her crying gets too much that Coulson can’t understand her anymore.

Without a word Coulson pulls Skye up so that she is sitting up and puts her arms around her, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. “I’ve got you. It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Coulson tells Skye as she cries.  

“Will it ever stop hurting?” Skye asks Coulson once she has stopped crying.

“Stop hurting, no. Hurt less, eventually.” Coulson tells daughter, “When you lose someone that you care about it hurts, and you’ve got to let it, but one day it won’t hurt so much. One day you’ll be able to remember Miles and instead of hurting you’ll be happy, you’ll remember the good instead of how it feels right now.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“What happened to him?” Skye asks realising that that she doesn’t know “His body. Was it found?” She asks hoping that he was.

“Yes, Anna led the police back to him.” Coulson explains “I arranged to have the body shipped back to Austin and buried there.”

“Thank you.” Skye tells her father.

“We can go visit his grave if you want.” Coulson suggest thinking maybe it could help.

“Maybe.” Skye says uncertainly not sure if that’s what she wants or not.

“The offer is there if you want to.” Coulson tells her as Skye lays back down. “Why don’t you try and get some sleep.” Coulson suggests as she does.

“Can you stay until I fall asleep?” Skye asks her dad.

“Of course.” Coulson tells her.

* * *

 

Half an hour later Coulson quietly exits Skye’s bunk. When he does he is surprised to find the plane is completely clean.

“Where is everyone?” He asks walking over to Melinda who is sitting at the breakfast bar picking at a salad.

“FitzSimmons went down to the lab, Ward went to train.” Melinda explains “How’s our girl?”

“Not good.” Coulson answers “She’s hurting over Miles, and she blames herself and there is nothing that I can say to change that.” Coulson explains sitting down “I held her why she was crying and I felt useless. She is hurting so much and there is nothing I can do to help her. All I want is to take away the pain that she’s feeling but I can’t, I hate that she’s hurting so much.” Coulson tells Melinda.

“You did what you could, you held her, you were there.” Melinda tells Coulson “I hate that she’s hurting too but for now holding her, being there for her is all that we can do.” Melinda tells him.

“I know that you’re right, I just wish there was something we could do.” Coulson comments as he steals one of Melinda’s carrot sticks.

“So do I.” Melinda tells him and the pair drift into silence.

“What are you doing?” Melinda asks confused when all a sudden a few minutes later Coulson has just gets up and walks into the kitchen and starts to look through the fridge.

“I’m making sure that that there is a nice dinner waiting for her when she wakes up.” Coulson explains as he digs through the fridge.

“Do you need a hand?” Melinda asks knowing how much Coulson hates feeling useless.

“You’re not allowed in my kitchen.” Coulson informs her.

“Your kitchen?” Melinda asks unimpressed with his choice of words.

“You know what I mean.” Coulson tells her “You don’t have the best track record when it comes to stoves.” He reminds her.

“I set fire to a couple of stoves and you never let me forget it.” Melinda comments.

“Three Melinda, not a couple, three. Plus the one in my apartment that you and Tasha destroyed when you decided that Vodka, plus Sparring, in my kitchen, was a good idea.” He reminds her.

“In my defence the sparring was Tasha’s idea and Clint encouraging us.” Melinda defends “Are you going to make that Chicken dish?” Melinda asks curious.

“Thirty years Melinda, it’s been thirty years. I would have thought that you would know the name of ‘that chicken dish’, by now.” Coulson comments.

“Of course I know the name.” Melinda informs him “But I would never deprive myself the joy of your reaction when you think I don’t.” Melinda informs Coulson with a small smile.

“How long?” Coulson asks curious surprised that he hasn’t picked up on that.

“About twenty seven years.” Melinda answers “Do you have enough time to make your pudding?” Melinda asks curious “I think she will like it.” She adds knowing that that is true but also knowing that Skye isn’t the only one who will.

“Yeah, I have enough time, but I don’t have everything I need.” Coulson says as he starts to collect what he needs out of the fridge and cupboards.

“Write a list of what you need and I’ll go get it.”  Melinda offers.

“You sure?” Coulson asks.

“Yeah, you won’t let me help so it’s the least I can do.” Melinda tells him.

“Four stoves Melinda, four.” Coulson reminds her as he writes the list

“You’ve got to let that go.” Melinda comments though she is sure that he never will “I don’t constantly bring up what happened when you tried to do the home renovations by yourself.” Melinda points out as she grabs the list of Coulson.

“Yes you do.” Coulson comments “For ten years you never let me forget it.” He reminds her.

“Good point.” Melinda admits as she heads downstairs.  

* * *

 

Half an hour later when Melinda returns she finds almost every counter surface in the kitchen covered with different ingredients.

“When she shows up remind me that Tasha owes me twenty dollars.” Melinda comments as she places the bags down on the only free surface.

“What for? Actually I don’t want to know.” Coulson comments. 

“Has she woken?” Melinda asks Coulson curious.

“I haven’t heard anything.” Coulson comments.

“I’ll go check.” Melinda says and as quietly as possible Melinda sneaks into Skye’s bunk and returns a couple of minutes later.

“She’s asleep, she looks peaceful.” Melinda informs Coulson once she returns.

“Good, she deserves some peace.” Coulson comments.

“I’ve been meaning to run a diagnostic on the flight systems for a while now, I think now will be a good time to do it.” Melinda comments.

“Is something wrong?” Coulson asks concerned.

“No, I’ve just wanted to do it for a while.” Melinda explains before heading into the cockpit.

* * *

 

A couple of hours later everyone, except Skye is in the kitchen, about to have dinner at the table with the L shaped table which they have brought another a couple of chairs over to so they can all fit. While all the others are helping Coulson bring the food over Melinda is waking Skye.  

“Skye, wake up.” Melinda says genially shaking her.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Skye asks confused.

“Are you hungry? Your Dad’s made dinner.” Melinda explains.

“Yeah, I am a big hungry.” Skye admits, and once she does Melinda helps her out to the kitchen.

“Um, wow.” Skye says surprised by all the food her father made “You didn’t have to make this much Dad.” Skye tells him.

“He does this all the time.” Melinda says as she helps Skye sit down “He makes way too much food and we eat leftovers for days.” Melinda explains. “Make sure you leave room for desert though.” Melinda advices Skye “Your Dad’s made the Coulson Family Chocolate Pudding and there is nothing better.” Melinda informs Skye.

“Coulson Family Chocolate Pudding?” Skye asks confused.

“It was my mother’s recipe.” Coulson explains “Dig in” he tells her.

“Who taught you to cook, Sir?” Ward asks curious several minutes later.

“My mother, she was a great cook my mother.” Coulson tells the others.

“So are you Sir.” Simmons informs him.

“Thank you.” Coulson tells her.

During dinner there is some pleasant conversation but for the most part everyone is enjoying the meal that Coulson prepared so much that they don’t speak much.

Once everyone is finished dinner Ward and Fitz clear the plates while Coulson goes to the oven to get out the pudding.

“You really didn’t have to make that much Dad.” Skye comments as she sees how big the container that is full of Chocolate pudding is.

“With how much your mother eats of it, yes I did.” Coulson tells his daughter as he starts to dish up the plates.

“Okay this is amazing.” Skye comments after her first bite of the pudding.

“It really is.” Melinda says.

* * *

 

Once everyone has seconds of the pudding, Skye and Melinda having third, they head over to the lounge area as Ward has suggested that they should all play Monopoly.

Many hours, several fights and one winner later the team have finished their game of Monopoly and everyone except Coulson and May have headed to bed. Instead of heading to bed Coulson and Melinda are sitting on one of the couches outsides Skye’s bunk just in case she needs anything.

* * *

 

Half an hour after everyone else has headed to bed there is suddenly screaming coming from Skye’s bunk.

“Skye, sweetheart wake up.” Melinda says to Skye having reached her bunk first while Coulson signals to the others, who all rushed out from their respective bunks at the sound of Skye’s yell to make sure she is okay, that they can go back to bed.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Coulson asks curious once Skye has calmed down.

“No.” Skye says quietly.

“What do you want to do?” Melinda asks concerned.

“Not sleep.” Skye answers.

“How about I go make us some tea and we go and watch a movie? How does that sound?” Coulson asks curious not wanting to push Skye about her nightmare if she clearly doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Yeah that would be good.” Skye says liking the sound of that.

“Good.” Coulson says and he heads to the kitchen to make tea while Melinda helps Skye to the couches

* * *

 

Sitting together on the couch the family drink their tea and watch a movie. Once the movie finishes Skye says she doesn’t want to go to bed yet so they watch a second, which none of them make it through. Skye falls asleep nestled between her parents and manages to sleep in complete peace.

* * *

 

The following morning Coulson is the first one awake. When he wakes he realises that there is a person standing over them and a person sitting in the chair next to them but as he knows them both he doesn’t worry.

“Morning Natasha.” Coulson says greeting the person standing over them but because he is still half asleep it takes him a minute to realise what he said.

 

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	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** This is the second chapter I had to re write and it feels as if I’m missing something when I read it so sorry about that.

* * *

 

“Tasha?” Coulson asks completely surprised when he realised who he greeted.

“About time you woke up, we’ve been here about an hour.” Clint Barton comments from the chair.

“Melinda wake up.” Coulson says reaching over Skye to wake Melinda but in the process he also wakes Skye, “Holy Crap.” Skye comment recognizing both Natasha and Clint, completely shocked to see them in the plane.

“Здравствуйте, старый друг.” Melinda says standing up and greeting Natasha.

“你好，你同樣老朋友.” Natasha responds as she gives Melinda a hug.

“What are you doing here?” Coulson asks surprised to see two of his oldest friends in his plane, especially considering they think he’s dead.

“Stark wanted to know what Ian Quinn had done to piss of S.H.I.E.L.D so he hacked his way in. He found a redacted file on what he did. One of the few things that wasn’t redacted was a name May Philippa ‘Skye’ Coulson as soon as he read that he called Tasha to see what she knew. By the time Tasha got to the tower Stark had managed to get a un redacted version of the file which included your name and the fact that you aren’t dead, really glad about that by the way.” He informs Coulson, “Anyway, while she tried to get in contact with Melinda, Tasha explained all about who Melinda was and your history to Stark. When Melinda wouldn’t answer Tasha’s calls Stark lent us his jet and we flew here. We had a lovely little chat with director Fury then came here.”  Clint explains as May and Tasha talk in two different languages at once “Oh and 24.” He adds to Skye’s confusion.

“I’d say 36.” Coulson comments “I’m sorry I didn’t let you know I was alive.” He tells his friend.

“It’s okay, orders I get it.” Clint tells him though he was both angry and upset to learn that his friend was alive and he didn’t know about it, but from what he has learnt it is Fury that deserves that anger not Coulson so that’s who he is angry with, “Though you should know when we left Stark was about to do two things, the first was find the file about what happened to you and the second was let Pepper and the others know that you are alive and she for one defiantly won’t take it well.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Coulson comments though honestly he is more worried about Tony Stark finding out what really happened to him than Peppers reaction to him not telling her that he was alive “Clint this is my daughter Skye, Skye this is Agent Clint Barton.” Coulson introduces.

“Hi, this is so cool, I mean nice to meet you.” Skye says quickly rather nervous about the fact that she is meeting not one but two of the Avengers.

“Good to meet you too kid.” Clint tells her.

“Tasha I would like you to meet our daughter Skye, Skye this is Natasha Romanoff.” Melinda introduces once her and Tasha have finished talking in two languages.

 “Hi, nice to meet you.” Skye says trying to be calmer than when she was introduced to Clint.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I read what you did to escape Ian Quinn, not a lot of people could do that with a broken arm, good work.” Natasha tells Skye with a kind smile.

“Um, thanks.” Skye responds not sure how to respond to that especially considering who said it to her.

“Tasha.” Coulson greats as he realises, judging by the look that she is currently giving him, that she isn’t too happy with him.

 “Coulson.” Natasha greats. “I’m assuming you have an office here somewhere?” She asks.

“Upstairs.” Coulson answers.

“Good, your office now.” Natasha informs him and Coulson follows her up the stairs.

“Good to see you Mels.” Clint says getting up and walking over to Melinda to give her a hug.

“Don’t call me Mels.” Melinda tells Clint though she does return the hug.

“Uh, hi, Dad just went upstairs with a clearly angry Natasha Romanoff, shouldn’t we worry?” Skye asks concerned.

“Nah, your Dad makes Tasha angry contently but he never makes her angry enough for her to actually do something.” Clint assures Skye.

“Moscow.” Melinda says simply.

“Okay, in the last ten years he hasn’t made her angry enough to actually do something.” Clint corrects.

“Venice.” Melinda says simply.

“Okay, he does make her angry enough but she won’t actually do anything, happy?” Clint asks Melinda.

“It wasn’t about being happy it was about the truth.” Melinda tells him “Coffee?” she asks curious.

“Please.” Clint tells her.

“Are you sure I shouldn’t worry?” Skye asks her mother.

“Positive.” Melinda answers as she helps Skye over to the kitchen.

* * *

 

“What were you thinking when you did that?” Natasha asks Coulson as soon as they enter his office.

“What specifically?” Coulson asks curious as there are several things that Natasha could be talking about.

“Don’t get cute Coulson.” Natasha tells him,

“I’m not trying to be.” Coulson tells her “It’s just there are a lot of things you could be talking about, I’m going to need you to narrow it down a bit.” He explains.

“Melinda.” Natasha says simply “What were you thinking when you forced her into the field again?” Natasha asks knowing that Coulson is the only person who could get Melinda back in the field, not even Director Fury could have done that, “Did you even give her a choice?” She asks, and Coulson avoiding her eyes is the only answer that she needs. “Why would you do that? Especially after what it did to her? She shouldn’t be in the field. She was doing well in Admin Coulson. Why would you drag her back into the field?”

“Because I love her Tasha.” Coulson informs her “I love her. I know you think love is for children but it’s not, and I’m not going to have that fight with you again.” Coulson comments as one of the things that he and Natasha fight about the most is their very different views on love “She wasn’t happy in Admin, she was miserable, you know that.” Coulson tells her. “I thought that if she was back in the field but not in combat, just driving the bus, but a part of a team again it would do her some good, maybe help her be like how she used to be again.” Coulson explains

“I never said she was happy, I said she was doing well there is a difference.” Natasha corrects. “How many missions until she volunteered for combat just so she could watch your back?” Natasha asks as one of the things she learnt from what Stark found is that Melinda is doing combat missions again.

“Three mission.” Coulson answers.

“You weren’t there to pick up the pieces of Melinda last time, I was. If things go south you better be prepared to be there this time.” Natasha says the threat clear.

“I am.” Coulson responds.

“Good.” Natasha says “Now, how are you doing?” she asks concerned. “And why the hell didn’t you even think to tell us that you were alive?”

“They’re not easy questions to answer Tasha.” He tells her, fighting a smile at how fast Natasha can go from being mad at him for dragging Melinda back into the field to being concerned for him and mad again about him not telling her that he was alive.

“Well try.” Natasha tells Coulson and that’s what just Coulson does, starts to explain to his old friend what has been going on with him since his resurrection.

* * *

 

While Coulson and Natasha are catching up upstairs, Melinda and Clint, with Skye are downstairs doing the same.

“So your Mom placed the bucket and we run.” Clint tells Skye.

“You pranked Director Fury.” Skye says looking at her mother impressed.

“More than once.” Clint adds.

“Only a couple of times.” Melinda tells Skye “And only when we thought he deserved it.” She explains.

“Did he know it was you?” Skye asks interested.

“He couldn’t prove it.” Clint answers “But we did find ourselves going on some pretty bad missions for a while.” He admits.

“That we did.” Melinda admits.

“What other stories do you have?” Skye asks curious wanting to hear more

“Let me think.” Clint comments “I know, do you want to know why I really hope your Dad got rid of all the Vodka on this plane when Mels avoided Tasha’s first call?” Clint asks curious.

“Don’t call me Mels, and don’t you dare.” Melinda tells Clint.

“Come on Mom, let him tell me.” Skye comments but before either her, Melinda or Clint can say anymore the door to Ward’s bunk opens and he walks out.

“Hey Ward, look who’s here.” Skye comments.

“Who?” Ward asks confused as he wipes his eyes before looking up and seeing who is sitting at the breakfast bar “Agent Barton Sir, it’s an honour.”  Ward comments once he realises who it is.

“Nice too meet you Agent Ward, from what I understand you’re going to go far.” Clint says getting up and walking over to shake Ward’s hand.

“Thank you Sir.” Ward says not sure how to respond “What are you doing here, Sir?” he asks curious.

“We heard that Coulson wasn’t actually dead so we thought we would come pay a visit.” Clint explains.

“We? Is Agent Romanoff here as well?” he asks assuming that is who he is referring to.

“She’s upstairs with Coulson.” Melinda explains.

“They’ve been up there for a while, and Agent Romanoff did look really angry, are you sure we shouldn’t worry?” Skye asks concerned

“No need to worry ребенок, you father’s fine.” Natasha says as she walks down the stairs, Coulson right behind her.

“Natasha Romanoff, meet Agent Grant Ward.” Coulson introduces

“It’s an honour Ma’am.” Ward says as he shakes Natasha’s hand.

“Dad can we keep him? He’s got the best stories about you guys.” Skye says as Coulson walks over.

“Sorry Skye I don’t think that will be possible.” Coulson comments knowing that it would be very unlikely that Director Fury would allow Melinda, Natasha, Clint and him together for long periods of time “What stories? What have you been telling?” Coulson asks concerned knowing that Clint has more than a few stories that Skye really shouldn’t hear.

“Don’t worry I’ve been keeping him in line.” Melinda assures Coulson.

“Since when?” Coulson asks surprised as normally Clint and Melinda bring out the worst in each other.

“How long are you going to be around for anyway?” Melinda asks curious, purposely ignoring Coulson’s comment as Skye and Ward exchange a look both wanting to know the story or stories behind that comment.

“That’s the good news, Fury’s assigned us to this plane for the next week.” Clint reveals.

“Seriously?” Skye asks excited.

“You’re assigned here for a week? Those were his exact words?” Melinda asks surprised knowing that for a while Fury has done his best to make sure that they aren’t together for long periods of time.

“Yep.” Natasha answers “Well his exact words were that we were assigned here for a week or until one of the four of us are pushed out of the airlock, arrested or causes an international incident, whichever happened first.” Natasha explains.

“How did you pull that off?” Coulson asks Natasha curious positive that she is the one who did it.

“I have my ways.” Natasha comments vaguely “And you should know that.” She tells Coulson.

“There are four of you and the Director thinks you can cause an international incident in less than a week?” Ward asks surprised

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Melinda comments.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Skye comments shocked.

“No. I still think that if any of us wanted or needed to travel to Brunei we would find that rather difficult.” Coulson comments remembering the incident well from the group’s first year as a team.

“I thought Fury said he was going to sort it out.” Clint comments.

“He said he would but he never said anything about it again, so I have no idea if he actually did or not.” Coulson explains

“Okay, I’ve got to know. What did you do?” Skye asks curious.

“That’s Classified.” Coulson answers.

“Oh come on. You can’t just tell me that you caused an international incident in less than a week and not tell me the story, that’s not fair.” Skye objects  

“Sorry Honey.” Coulson tells her.

“Cheer up Kid, I’ve got plenty more stories that I can tell you.” Clint informs Skye as Coulson and Ward get started on breakfast.

* * *

 

While Coulson and Ward make breakfast Skye spends time getting to know Clint and Natasha better and in a way getting to know her parents because they are more than happy to tell her stories that she is sure that her parents would never tell.

During breakfast both Fitz and Simmons wake to the shocking surprise of Hawkeye and Black Widow eating breakfast on their plane and once they get over the shock they are more than happy to listen to the stories that are being told.

During the breakfast the group continues to be entertained by stories that show a whole difference side to both Melinda and Coulson. All through breakfast the stories that are being told all seem to be the kind of stories that a younger sibling would tell for the soul purpose of embarrassing their older siblings, stories that Clint seems to have an unlimited supply of and is more than happy to share

* * *

 

After breakfast Melinda and Coulson clean up the dishes while the others head over to the lounges to spend more time with Natasha and Clint.  

“Think they will have any respect for us one this week is done?” Coulson asks Melinda curious they start to do the dishes.

“Probably not.” Melinda answers “Though I’m more worried about what they will see. You didn’t get rid of the vodka.” She points out.

“You know you could just not drink it.” Coulson informs Melinda. 

“That’s not an option, you know that.” Melinda tells him.

“Then you only have yourself to blame. You should know by now that you and Tasha plus Vodka only equals more stories that Clint and I can use to blackmail you with.” Coulson reminds her.

“Talking about Clint I was thinking, if he’s willing, we should ask if he would talk to Skye.” Melinda suggests “Their Childhoods were similar and it could help her to talk to someone who could understand what she has gone through in a way we never could.” She explains.

“I’ll ask him.” Coulson responds agreeing that it could be a good idea.

* * *

 

“So a few weeks ago Mom and Dad didn’t say a word to each other for like a week then one day it was like everything was fine again. I asked Mom about it and she said that they have had the fight before, have they? Do you know what they fought about?” Skye asks curious

“Yes.” Natasha answers realising that Melinda must have or had a new boyfriend as that is the only thing that causes a fight like that.

“So what was it? What did they fight about?” Skye asks interested.

“Ask your Dad.” Clint tells her.

“Ask Dad? That’s all I get.” Skye says surprised as before now Clint has been more than happy to share stories.

“On this, yes.” Natasha answers knowing that her and Clint aren’t the ones who should explain to Skye that whenever Melinda gets a new boyfriend Coulson does something like threaten, run a background check or even once arrested the man which causes them to stop speaking until one of them presents the other with a bottle of Glendronach scotch which they drink together, and results in them going back to how they were.

“So what kind of missions have you been doing?” Clint asks curious.

“All different kinds Sir.” Ward answers “We, or Coulson specifically, picks the ops so we undertake all different kinds. Though a lot of our missions have been connected to the Centipede group and the mysterious Clairvoyant especially after Coulson’s abduction and now what happened to Skye.” Ward explains

“Coulson’s what?” Natasha asks surprised, Coulson having left that out when he told her what he had been doing since he died.  

“His abduction. You didn’t know about that?” Skye asks.

“No. We knew he was alive but we don’t know what he’s been doing. What happened?” Clint asks concerned.

“About two months ago.” Skye begins to explain surprised that it really wasn’t that long ago and yet so many things have changed “He was taken and held captive by a woman named Rania who was working for the Clairvoyant. He was held for over thirty six hours before we found him.” Skye says trying not to think about the state he was in when they found him.

At Skye’s words Natasha can’t help but wonder what else Coulson left out from his explanation of what has been happening to him since he died, and Clint can’t help but wonder just what he is missing.

As Ward continues to explain some of the other thing that they have been up to since they became a team again Coulson and May walk over having finished doing the dishes.

“Downstairs?” Natasha asks Melinda curious as she walks over.

“It’s the best place. Fury is still mad about the damage we did to this plane on a mission six days in.” Melinda comments as Tasha stands up.

“Don’t go near Lola.” Coulson tells them as they head downstairs. “Here.” Coulson says to Clint as he hands him over a twenty dollar bill.

“You should have known better. Since when do they ever wait more than twenty four hours?” Clint comments as he gladly accepts the money.

“Come on you won’t want to miss this.” Coulson tells Skye as he helps her up.

“Miss what?” Skye asks confused.

“Something not a lot of people get to see.” Coulson informs the younger agents.  

“Which is what exactly?” Simmons asks confused.

“S.H.I.E.L.D’s two best fighters fighting each other.” Clint explains as the group walk to the door that leads downstairs.

“I thought you and Agent Romanoff are S.H.E.L.D’s best fighters.” Ward comments.

“That’s debatable.” Clint comments “The three best are definitely Mels, Tasha and I but when it comes to who is actually the best when it comes to hand to hand combat it’s hard to tell.” Clint explains “If your Mom wasn’t retired from combat she would have defiantly been on the ground with us in New York.” Clint tells Skye.

“Seriously?” Skye asks surprised.

“Definitely.” Clint answers as the group walk out onto the platform above the Cargo bay. “50?” he asks Coulson.

“Yep.” Coulson responds.

“Wait, are you betting on who will win?” Skye asks curious.

“Of course not.” Coulson and Clint say rather quickly “We’re betting on who will call time first.” Clint explains “If Tasha does then Phil wins, if Mels does then I do.” He explains.

“I can’t believe it, we get to watch The Cavalry and Black Widow fight, how many people can say that they’ve seen that?” Fitz asks.

“Don’t call her that.” Coulson, Skye and Clint all say all having heard what Fitz referred to Melinda by.

“Sorry.” He mutters.

“Are you sure we can’t keep them?” Skye asks, “It’s nice seeing this side of you guys. Ever since they got here you and Mom have been acting, well like the rest of us. It’s nice to see you guys like this for a change.” Skye tells her father.

“You’ve got Tasha and Clint to thank for that.” Coulson tells his daughter “Whenever they are around it’s like we go back to being how we were when we first met” He explains “When we met them your mother and I were nearly thirty, just divorced still trying to figure out how to be just friends, the only things we cared about was the job and trying to find you. Tasha and Clint saved us.” Coulson explains.

“How did they do that?” Skye asks curious.

“We pulled the sticks out of their arses.” Clint, who has been listening to the whole conversation explains, causing Skye to laugh “Uh Phil, they’re getting pretty close to your precious car.” Clint comments.

“Don’t go near Lola.” Coulson yells down causing both Melinda and Natasha to roll their eyes but move away from Lola anyway because neither of them want to have to deal with what Coulson would do if they do something to his precious Car.

As those above watch the sparring they are amazed. None of them, except for Coulson and Clint who have seen this fight before, have ever seen anything like it. As he watches Ward realises that when he and Melinda have been sparring she has defiantly been holding back to a degree because her skill level when she is going all out is incredible. Like the Coulson and May match weeks earlier it is impossible to tell who is winning but unlike the Coulson and May match going down isn’t a clear sign of a winner because pretending to go down is clearly a tactic that both woman use.

* * *

 

For over an hour Melinda and Natasha spar. As they do neither woman shows any sign of tiering and those watching continue to be amazed at what they two woman are doing because the skill that they are demonstrating is incredible.

“Um Dad, Director Fury is here.” Skye comments noticing that Director Fury is standing on the Cargo ramp with Agent Hill.

“I know, he’s been there for about five minutes.” Coulson informs Skye.

“Shouldn’t we stop them fighting?” Ward asks assuming that whatever it is that the director is here for must be important.

“The first, last, and only time I have ever tried to stop a fight between Melinda and Tasha I got thrown into a wall, I’m never doing that again.” Coulson reveals.

“Ouch.” Skye says sympathetically.

“It was amusing to watch.” Clint comments “Do you have balloons?” He asks Coulson curious.

“You do remember what happened last time, don’t you?” Coulson asks him curious.

“Of course.” Clint answers without hesitation “Do you have any?”

“Kitchen, second draw to the left of the fridge.” Coulson tells Clint who disappears from the platform, “You going to want to take a couple of steps back.” Coulson advices as he takes several steps back from the railing of the platform.

“Why?” Ward asks curious though he does what Coulson suggested.

“Because Clint is about to do the stupidest thing a person can do, make Natasha Romanoff and Melinda May angry with you. Take it from someone who has been on the receiving end of their anger multiple times, it’s not a place you want to be.” Coulson explains as Clint returns with two large filled balloons.

“Water?” Coulson asks curious.

“And food colouring.” Clint answers “You game?” He asks curious.

“After last time? No way. You’re on your own.” Coulson tells his friend.

“Your loss” Clint comments and he throws the two water balloons down from the platform and even though both Melinda and Natasha are moving around as they spar he hits them both with perfect accuracy.

“Before you kill me look behind you.” Clint says as Natasha and Melinda look up at him with identical angry glares.

“Director, Agent Hill.” Melinda and Natasha both great once they do as Clint suggested and look behind them.

“Natasha, Melinda.” Fury greats. 

“What’s going on?” Coulson asks Director Fury curious.

“We need to talk.” Fury says “It’s about Quinn.” He adds.

“Come right up.” Coulson says having a feeling due to the look that Director Fury currently has on his face that whatever he needs to talk to them about isn’t good.

 

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	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Five minutes later everyone is in the command centre, Melinda and Natasha having quickly towel down first, being briefed by Director Fury and Agent Hill about the latest events.

“Forty five minutes Ian Quinn’s guards checked his cell to find this.” Fury informs everyone putting a picture on the screen off Quinn’s cell completely empty.

“He escaped?” Ward asks surprised. “How did he manage that?” He asks shocked.  

“Don’t know, we’re still working on it.”  Fury answers. “All the security footage shows Quinn in his cell. He somehow managed to get out without being seen by a single person or camera.” Fury explains “But that’s not the worse part.” He informs the others.

“What could be worse?” Coulson asks really angry that the person who took his daughter has escaped.

“Rania is also gone.” Fury explains.

“WHAT?” Everyone says surprised.

“It’s the same thing. The security footage tells us that she is there but she isn’t.” Fury explains.

“We’ve had Rania for months, if the Clairvoyant could get both her and Quinn out so easily why would he have waited this long?” Skye asks curious.

“The goal wasn’t Rania, it was Quinn.” Clint comments “Rania was just an added bonus, like you said we’ve had her for months and didn’t worry, but we have Quinn for only a couple of days and there is a rescue like this, he’s matters. Whatever Quinn does for the Clairvoyant, whatever the connection there is the Clairvoyant couldn’t risk Quinn being in S.H.E.L.D custody for too long.” Clint explains.

“Did he talk at all?” Melinda asks Fury and Hill.

“No, and we had our best interrogators in with him.” Hill explains.

“He didn’t say anything, really?” Skye asks surprised.

“Why does that surprise you?” Clint asks interested.

“Because when he had me he didn’t stop talking.” Skye explains

“What did he talk about?” Natasha asks.

“About the Clairvoyant mainly, he said that he was great, powerful and all seeing. When I made him think that I thought the Clairvoyant was a big joke because he couldn’t find me he told me everything that happened when I was a baby, and he was certain that you wouldn’t be able to find me, and he tried to get me to believe him.” Skye explains looking at her parents “But I didn’t, I knew you would come.” Skye tells her parents showing how far she has come from the girl who wouldn’t count on anyone.

“We always will.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Rania, she was the one who captured you right?” Clint asks his friend who nods “Did she say much.”

“Not really, I got the feeling that she wasn’t very high in the chain of command, she said that she hadn’t even talked to the Clairvoyant before he killed Poe.” Coulson explains “She was more interested in manipulating me to get me to talk, than talking about herself, but she also knew a lot things about me, things that she had no way of knowing.” Coulson explains.

“Sir, permission to extend assignment to Agent Coulson’s team until Quinn is found and the Clairvoyant is dealt with.” Natasha requests.

“Reason?” Fury asks interested.

“We don’t know what The Clairvoyant’s overall goal is but we do know that for some reason he want Phil and Skye, and it is very likely that they will try again. At the moment, from what I understand, there is only three agents on this plane who are actually trained in Combat, yes Skye has proven that she is capable of protecting herself but she is also hurt.” Natasha comments, “That’s not good enough. We know that the Clairvoyant has what he needs to create Super Solider, which if he does truly need or want Skye and Phil he will send after you, and three people can’t fight against them to protect six, even if one of those three is Melinda. Sir it would be in everyone’s best interest if Clint and I are assigned here until the Clairvoyant is found. It’s the best way that there is to protect everyone and make sure that the Clairvoyant is unable to use Skye and Phil for whatever he wants to use them for.” Natasha argues.

“I agree.” Fury comments. “Permission granted.”

“What are the rest of our orders?” Coulson asks “What do we do?”

“Natasha is right. As far as we know you and Skye are what the Clairvoyant wants and he has gone to drastic lengths to try and get you both; which I why I think it would be best for your team to go off book temporarily.” Fury suggests.

“Off book? What does that mean?” Skye asks because she is sure that it’s not the normal ‘off book’ that Coulson talks about.

“No contact with HQ, we become our own support, our own backup. We have no red tape, complete freedom to act as we see fit, but we also don’t have the protection that we currently have.” Coulson explains.

“Is that the best choice Sir?” Ward asks not sure if it is the best idea.

“I’m not sure.” Coulson comments still going through the pros and cons in his head.

“It also means you’re going to have to dis engage a lot of this tec.” Fury comments “Anything that can be traced or hacked.”

 “Not necessarily.” Skye comments causing everyone to look at her, “If we change all the systems to closed circuit have all our firewalls and encryption being connected to this plane with absolutely no remote access or connection to outside severs or databases, then we can still have the majority of our Tec, but it won’t be able to be traced or hacked or at the very least a hell of a lot harder to be.” Skye explains.

“Can you do that?” Melinda asks her daughter.

“With FitzSimmons help, easily.” Skye explains “Plus I know were still debating the whole precognition thing, but Quinn was certain that the Clairvoyant couldn’t see me, and that’s why I’ve been safe from him my whole life. So if I do the encryption then maybe however the Clairvoyant is seeing things he won’t be able to.” Skye explains.

“Sir, what if Quinn is the money.” Simmons suggests “I believed that I thought that the Clairvoyant was the money behind the operation, but what if that is Quinn? And the Clairvoyant plays another part. It would explain why the Clairvoyant wanted Quinn back so badly, he needed his money.”

“Makes sense.” Ward comments.

“All his accounts are frozen.” Hill reminds everyone.

“Someone managed to sneak Quinn and Rania out of a S.H.I.E.L.D facility without anyone realising it, I don’t think a few holds on bank accounts are going to stop them.” Coulson comments “I think you’re right Sir, off book is the best option we’ve got.” Coulson comments realising that it is the best way they have to keep everyone safe especially with Clint and Natasha on bored.

“You’ll need a go between.” Hill comments “Someone who can go between you and us. Pass on Intel and status reports.”

“We’ll use Stark.” Natasha says causing everyone to look at her surprise. “He’s the best man for the job, his Tec is more advanced that S.H.I.E.L.D and no one has a better security system. He could meet us anywhere if needed and help if we get into too much trouble. Plus he feels that he owes you after what you did” Natasha comments looking at Coulson.

“He does?” Coulson asks surprised.

“We all do.” Clint tells him. “Nat is right, Stark’s the man for this job.”

“How long do you need to get the system of line?” Fury asks looking at Skye and FitzSimmons.

“Three hours?” Skye asks looking at FitzSimmons.

“Between two and three, yes.” Fitz answers.  

“That gives us enough time to contact Stark and get supplies and whatever else we need.” Melinda comments.

“Good. Coulson if you come with Maria and me we can get you some of the more restricted items you will need.” Fury tells Coulson who nods.

“Natasha and I can go on a supply run and get everything else we need and contact Stark. Clint, Agent Ward you can stay on the bus and provide protection for Skye and FitzSImmons while they get us off line.” Melinda instructs and Clint and Ward nod.

“Meet back here ready to go in three hours.” Coulson instructs and he, Melinda, Natasha, Fury and Hill leave the command centre leaving Skye, FitzSimmons, Ward and Clint.

“Where do you need to start?” Ward asks FitzSimmons and Skye.

“Down in electronics. We’ve got to disengage all the current functioning remote access points and assure that they cannot be turned on again.” Fitz explains.

“I can get started on changing all the servers and firewalls while you do that.” Skye tells Fitz.

“Okay then. Agent Ward why don’t you go down to electronics with Agent’s Fitz and Simmons and I’ll stay up here with Skye.” Clint suggests.

“Yes Sir.” Ward responds even though he would have preferred to stay with Skye, “Come on.” He instructs FitzSimmons and the three of them leave the Command Centre.

“Anything I can do to help?” Clint asks Skye.

“Do you know much about computer systems?” Skye asks curious.

“Not a lot.” Clint admits “But if you need another set of hands I’m a quick learner.” He comments.

“I might just take you up on that.” Skye tells him as she starts working.

* * *

 

“I’ll handle weapons as well, you just get all the other supplies that we will need.” Coulson instructs Natasha and Melinda before going in a different direction with Hill and Fury than the one that they are going in.

“How are you doing?” Natasha asks her friend curious once they are far enough away from Coulson, Hill, and Fury to be sure that they can’t hear, she has wanted to ask Melinda that since she woke up but she couldn’t earlier, even when they were talking in both Russian and Chinese because Clint and Coulson know a lot of both languages.  

“I’m… I don’t know. It’s been an interesting few months.” Melinda tells her friend, “I found my daughter and I’m in the field again. I’m working with Phil again and I’ve almost lost them both. So how I’m doing isn’t an easy question to answer.” Melinda explains to her friend.

“How is it being back in the field? Seeing combat again?” Natasha asks concerned.

“When I first joined this plane I did my best to avoid combat, but I still saw it, still fought, and I handled it, but then Phil and Ward went in as a two man team on an operation and we lost contact for a while, and there was nothing I could do to help.” Melinda admits, “I realised I feared something happening to Coulson because I wasn’t there to watch his back more than going down that path again, and now I want to do whatever I can to protect Skye as well. I’m okay because of them, I’m okay for them.” Melinda explains.

“You found your reason.” Natasha comments remembering a conversation that they have had a lot over the years.

“I found my reason.” Melinda confirms.

“What about the new man how does he fit into this?” Natasha asks interested.

“What new man?” Melinda asks confused.

“Skye said that you and Phil didn’t say a single word to each other for a week and then one day you were fine again. We both know that only happens when you have a new man and Phil finds out and he gets overprotective and does something he shouldn’t.” Natasha reminds her “So what’s the story there?”

“It’s over, and it wasn’t really a big deal. I was having sex with Ward but it was nothing serious, it was just sex, but then I told Phil because he was saying that he didn’t want any more secrets, but things got complicated so we ended things.” Melinda explains simply.

“You told Phil?” Natasha ask.

“Don’t.” Melinda tells her friend very well aware of what the tone of voice Natasha is currently using means.

“You knew what he would do and yet you still told him, interesting.” Natasha comments.

“Come on.” Melinda says pulling Natasha into a deserted corner so that they can talk without being overheard “You’re going to figure this out anyway so instead of wasting time I am just going to tell you. As of yesterday Phil and I are attempting to give us another shot, but we agreed not to tell Skye until we’ve figured things out. Are we done with this now or would you like to continue to analyse my actions about Phil?” Melinda asks curious.

“We’re done.” Natasha answers not even surprised by Melinda’s reveal because she knew it would only be a matter of time before they got back together “But make sure he understands that things will not be pleasant for him if you are hurt again.” She comments as after all their years of friendship and everything that has happened she is very protective of Melinda and Melinda is just as protective of her.

“I think he is already well aware of that, or at least he should be.” Melinda comments as they leave the corner that Melinda pulled them into.

* * *

 

After leaving Melinda and Natasha, Coulson, Hill and Fury have headed down to the vaults, to get the weapon and the other restricted equipment that they will need to go off book.

“Here.” Fury says handing Coulson a box “Inside is a phone, unregistered, untraceable but only use it if it an absolute emergency, only if you desperately need us.”

“Yes Sir.” Coulson answers.

“What weapons do you want?” Maria asks Coulson.

“Enough of both Clint’s and Natasha’s normal supply to last us for at least a few months just to be on the safe side, plus enough for Agent Ward and Myself and even though she usually just takes the weapons she needs enough to cover Melinda as well.” Coulson answers.

“We’re going to have to load them ourselves. No one apart from those who have been told or who we all know are going to get told can know.” Fury comments.

“Guess we should get started then.” Coulson comments and that’s just what they three of them do, start to collect the weapons and other equipment that is needed and being to load it onto the plane.

* * *

 

Back at the bus Skye is continuing to work on getting the serves and systems of line while Clint watches her and keeps an eye out for danger. 

“How did you learn how to do this?” Clint asks Skye curious.

“I taught myself. I needed answers and hacking systems is the only way I could try to find them.” Skye explains.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Clint asks curious.

“In a way.” Skye answers.

“What do you mean?”

“Hacking systems led me to S.H.I.E.L.D, it got me on Dad’s radar, though not in a good way and in time I became a part of this team, I had people I could count on for the first time in my life, and I found my parents, where I came from, a home. None of that would have happened if I didn’t know how to hack systems.” Skye explains.

“What happened to you after you were taken?” Clint asks curious “You parents tried everything to try and find you, believe me I know, I helped, and we could never find a clue to where you were. Where were you?” Clint asks curious.

“You did?” Skye asks surprised as she didn’t know that.

“Yeah I did.” Clint answers “I don’t get close to people, except Nat. You’re parents are the only other people that we are truly close to, yes The Director and Hill and now the Avengers are friends, but not like you parents. We’re the family to each other that we all lost long ago, and you being taken and not being able to find you almost destroyed you parents. We met them four years after you were taken and in a lot of ways they were barely hanging on, your Dad says that we saved them but we really saved each other. A few months after we became a team we found out what happened to you and Nat and I promised to do whatever we could do to help, but we couldn’t find you. In all the years I have known your parents they have never giving up looking for you, I don’t even think Nat and I could truly comprehend how much having you back really means to them.” Clint explains.

At Clint’s words Skye has no idea what to say, so instead she answers his earlier question “At an Orphanage.” She explains.

“What?” Clint asks confused.

“That’s where I spent most of my childhood. Someone snuck me out of the place the Clairvoyant was holding me at as a baby, and took me back to his home village. I’m guess the Clairvoyant sent a team after me because a whole village died to protect me, and so did an S.H.I.E.L.D team. One of the last members of the S.H.I.E.L.D team faked a high clearance and set up an invisible protocol to assure that the foster system constantly moved me. I spent most of my childhood at the same Orphanage.” Skye explains.

“What do you mean a member of a S.H.I.E.L.D team faked a clearance? How did a S.H.I.E.LD team find out about you in the first place? And why didn’t you parents know?” Clint asks interested.

“I don’t know if the team knew who I was, they went in to investigate a 0-8-4. Mom and Dad weren’t sure if the Director knew who I was when he sent in the team. I’m assuming that they asked when I was taken but I don’t know what they found out.” Skye explains and at her explanation Clint can help but wonder just how much the director knew. “I could use that extra set of hands now.” Skye tells Clint.

“Of course, what do you need me to do?” He asks.

“Just do everything I tell you to.” Skye answers, “You know you do what Mom and Dad do.” She comments.

“What do you mean?” He asks interested.

“Mom and Dad say ‘we’ when there taking about them, almost like they are one person. You do the same when you talk about you and Natasha.” Skye explains “Type everything I tell you to.” She tells Clint and they both get to work on getting everything offline

* * *

 

Two hours and forty minute after Coulson, Natasha, Melinda, Hill and Fury left the bus everyone is once again back in the command centre.

“Sky, FitzSimmons? How’s it going?” Coulson asks the three.

“About five minutes to go.” Fitz answers “Skye is just finishing the encryption and Simmons and I are almost finished double checking to make sure that we aren’t still connected to any other server, remote access point, or database.” Fitz explains.

“Did you contact Stark?” Fury asks Natasha.

“Of course.” Natasha answers “He’s meeting us tomorrow. He’s confused about why I wouldn’t tell him where exactly we’re meeting or why I wouldn’t tell him what’s going on, but it’s Stark, being vague and confusing, that’s guaranteeing that he will be there.” Natasha tells everyone.

“Good.” Hill comments “Is everything else ready?” She asks.

“Melinda and Tasha have gotten all the supplies we need. We’ve the weapons we need and other supplies. We’re ready.” Coulson confirms.

“Then it’s time for us to leave.” Fury comments “We only communicate through Stark. You are on your own, we can’t protect you if needed, but I will have decoy planes out an about so it’s harder to discover where you are but not even the other agents will know what they are really doing. You have the credentials and the funds to operate anywhere but do the best you can not to draw attention to yourselves, and you four.” Fury says looking at Coulson, May, Clint and Natasha, “No international incidents, no killing each other, no throwing each other out of airlocks or maiming each other and no destroying the plane. You are an extraordinary team when you work together but don’t make me regret allowing you to have this chance again.” He comments knowing that the most risky part of the team going off book is that it means Natasha, Clint, Melinda and Phil will be together in a small confined space for a long period of time.

“Don’t worry Sir, we’ll be fine.” Melinda answers.

“Good.” Fury answers.

“We’re done.” Skye says “We are completely off line, all serves are internal and no outside access.” Skye explains. “I’ve put everything I’ve got, everything I know, into this so we should be good.” She informs everyone.

“Melinda?” Coulson asks.

“Wheel’s up in five.” Melinda says leaving the command centre.

“I’ll walk you out.” Coulson says to Hill and Fury.

Coulson, Hill and Fury walk to the Cargo bay in silence.

“Good Luck.” Fury tells Coulson.

“Thank you Sir.” Coulson responds.

“Be careful.” Maria tells Coulson.  

“We always are.” Coulson responds as Fury and Hill leave the plane, leaving the eight agents alone to face whatever it is that may come.

 

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	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

An hour after they left Agent’s Hill’s base the team are in the Air far away. Melinda has set the coordinates on the plane to a random far away location so that their Auto Pilot won’t give away their intended location. Skye and FitzSimmons are down in the lab while Coulson, May, Natasha, Clint and Ward are in the command centre going over their security plan.

“At least two of us will be awake at all times.” Clint tells the others “We will rotate the night shift so that we can all get some rest. One of the two awake will always be near the bunks close to the entrance to the cockpit just in case, the other will do sweeps of the plane every fifteen minutes but otherwise will be stationed near the bunks.” Clint explains “Mels, Nat and I are all qualified to fly, Phil I know you’re not, but what about you Agent Ward? Are you qualified?” He asks.

“Yes Sir.” Ward answers.

“Good. Mels is our primary pilot but the three of us should be ready just in case.” Clint instructs.

“Stop calling me that.” Melinda once again repeats.

“Nat, plan for Stark tomorrow?” Clint asks ignoring Melinda’s comment just like he always does.

“Simple go in as un noticeable as possible. This is the only time we should give him advance warning, other times we need to see or talk to him we should just show up where he is going to be.” Natasha suggests “It should just be me and you to go see him.” Natasha says looking at Coulson “Everyone else should be safely away.”

“Me and you, you sure? We don’t know how Stark is going to react to me being alive.” Coulson reminds her.

“I know, that is why it should be us.” Natasha tells him, “And you know that.” Natasha points out.

“I do.” Coulson confirms “Clint, what else you got?” Coulson asks as ever since they left the base Clint, the best out of them when it comes to tactical plans, has been coming up with the most ideal security plan for the bus.

“Everything Sir.” Clint says and he continues to explain the very detailed plan he has spent the last hour coming up with.

* * *

 

Down in the lab FitzSimmons are working on the Night Night gun while Skye just watches, and despite the fact that it hurts, is pacing the lab.

“You need to sit down.” Simmons tells her friend when she realises what she is doing “You are still meant to be on bed rest, sit down.”

“I’m fine.” Skye tells her friend.

“Your winching with every step you take, sit down.” Fitz tells her.

“Fine.” Skye says and she reluctantly sits down “Happy?”

“It’s for your own good, if you don’t rest it will take you a lot longer to heal.” Simmons tells Skye.

“Who cares if I take longer to heal? Maybe then no one else will get hurt because of me.” Skye tells her friend.

“Don’t say that.” Simmons tells her.

“Why? It’s the truth. Miles and a whole lot of people are dead because of me, we’re all going ‘off book’ because of me, five of the best agent’s S.H.I.E.L.D has are currently working on a security plan because of me, Mom and Dad are broken because of me, Mom and Dad are divorced because of me. Everything that is happening is because of me.” Skye says becoming upset.

“Hey, you can’t blame yourself for all of that.” Fitz says walking over and kneeling in front of his friend “Miles death is Samuel Lard’s fault. We’re going off book because of Quinn and logically if you think you’re to blame for that then so is Coulson. Everyone upstairs are doing what they do, and you didn’t break your parents Skye, I saw them when you were taken and when you were found, you fixed them.” Fitz tells her “So no more blaming yourself.” Fitz tells the person who is like a sister to him.

“He’s right, and you know he is.” Simmons says walking over to Skye and Fitz.

“It feels like it’s my fault.” Skye admits to her friends, “You guys and Mom and Dad have all told me that it’s not but that doesn’t change the fact that it feels like it is.” Skye explains.

“Then you’ve got to stop thinking about it.” Simmons suggests.

“How do you suggest I do that?” Skye ask curious and Fitz and Simmons exchange a look both trying to come up with an idea.

“I know, stand up.” Simmons tells her.

“Didn’t you just tell me to sit down?” Skye asks surprised.

“Yes I did, and you will sit down again, but come over here first.” Simmons tells her before walking back over to the Holotable.

“I thought you said I needed two semesters at the Academy before I could touch that?” Skye asks surprised.

“We’re willing to make an exception this once.” Fitz answers.

“Huh, you guys do it to.” Skye mutters to herself.

“Do what?” Simmons asks confused.

“Nothing.” Skye quickly answers.

“Here, just watch what we do then you can have a go.” Fitz tells Skye before starting to demonstrate how to use the Holotable.

“Okay, as cool as this is there is actually something I could use your help with.” Skye comments as she starts to imitate the actions that Fitz’s is doing with the Holotable.

“Of course, what do you need?” Simmons asks curious.

“I want to try and get my parents back together.” Skye explains.

“That is a horrible idea.” Fitz informs her.

“No it’s not.” Skye tells him “When Dad first told me all about him and Mom and their history I made a comment “You loved her.” And he said “I do.” Not I did, but I do. Dad still loves Mom and you saw Mom when he was hurt, there is clearly something there and she told me that they could never be just friends. There is still something between them and I want them happy, and I think them being together will make them happy. I’m the reason they got divorced so I’ve got to do whatever I can to help them get back together.” Skye explains to her friends.

“Skye most children of divorced parents think that it is their fault but that doesn’t mean that it is.” Simmons tells her friends.

“My parent’s divorced really is.” Skye tells her friend “The lost me, they broke, they couldn’t be together anymore. That is my fault. I need to do what I can to fix it, will you guys help me?” Skye asks her friends.

“Skye forget for a minute that they are your parents.” Simmons tells her friend “This is May and Coulson that we are taking about, this has the very likely possibility of going very very bad.”

“I can’t forget that they are my parents, that’s my point.” Skye tells her, “They should be together and I’m not just saying that as a kid who wants her parents together. Even before I found out who they were I thought that they should be together. Mom smiled for Dad and Dad talked about Mom with love in his eyes. They’re good together, but I think they need help to realise it.” Skye explains.

“If you can come up with a plan which limits the bad outcome for us as much as possible then I’ll help.” Fitz tells his friend.

“Seriously?” Skye asks surprised and Fitz nods.

“You’re amazing, yay.” Skye says giving Fitz a hug.

“And you’re bleeding.” Simmons comments noticing blood on Skye’s shirt.

“What?” Skye asks confused before looking down at her shirt. “Oh.”

“Fitz, help her to the table.” Simmons instructs, “This is why you should be resting.” Simmons instructs her friend as she collects what she needs and Fitz helps Skye to the table.

“Take of your shirt.” Simmons tells her friend “Go get Coulson and May.” She tells Fitz.

“No, not yet.” Skye tells her friend. “There is no point worrying them if all I did was pull a stich a bit.” She argues as she unbuttons her shirt.

“You have blood on your shirt, they are going to realises.” Jemma tells her friend as she walks over to her

“Fitz, could you?” Skye ask completely removing her shirt and handing it to Fitz.

“Of course, but if it’s more than just a pulled stich, I’m getting your parents.” He tells Skye collecting her shirt of her and going over to the sink.

“Thanks.” Skye says thankful “So, how bad?” Skye asks Simmons.

“Not as bad as it could be, but you have to rest.” Simmons tells her friend “You opened your most serious wound. This is going to hurt.” Simons advices her friend as she gets to work, “If you don’t rest you are going to be in a lot more pain and a lot worse shape.” Simmons inform her.

“Guys, we need you up stairs.” Ward says walking in and then realising what is going on “What happened?” He asks concerned walking very fast over to Skye and Simmons.

“I opened my wound a bit, it’s no big deal.” Skye assures Ward.

“Actually it is, a very big deal.” Simmons tells her.

“Coulson, May, come down to the lab.” Ward says through the coms.

“Great, thanks for that.” Skye tells Ward sarcastically “I really didn’t want to worry them.” She reveals.

“I am not going to apologise for that.” Ward tells her. 

“Any chance you can be done before they get down here?” Skye asks Simmons really not wanting to worry her parents.

“None.” Simmons tells her as the lab door opens and Coulson, May, Natasha and Clint walk in.

“What happened?” Coulson asks concerned as he and Melinda rush to their daughters side as soon as they see that Simmons is working on her.

“It’s nothing I just pulled my stitches a little.” Skye tells her parents trying not to get them to worry.

“Pulled stiches isn’t nothing.” Melinda tells her daughter “Simmons?” she asks concerned.

“She’ll be fine, she just needs to rest more.” Simmons explains as she starts to re dress Skye’s wound.

“See, I’m fine. Why did you need us upstairs?” Skye asks curious.

“Am I the only one who having flashbacks to when Mels was in the exact same position saying the exact same thing?” Clint asks curious and receives identical unimpressed looks from Melinda, Coulson and Natasha “Guess so.” He comments “We wanted you upstairs because we wanted to go over the rules.” He explains.

“What rules?” Skye and FitzSimmons ask as Fitz gives Skye back her shirt.

“The ones to keep us all safe.” Ward answers.

“Until further notice no one is to leave the plane alone. If you are not trained in combat you will always be accompanied by someone who is if you leave the plane.  If you plan to come down here either to the lab or Cargo Bay then you will inform someone else where you are going and keep on coms, preferably you wouldn’t go alone. Everyone will keep their eye out for anything unusual and report it if you think there is something odd going on, even if you are not sure or if it’s just a hunch. We’re on our own, we are all the backup we have, it’s important that we look out for each other.” Coulson orders.

“Yes Sir.” FitzSimmons reply and Skye nods. 

“Now, you need to rest.” Simmons tells her friend.

“I’ll help you upstairs.” Coulson tells his daughter and leaning on Coulson for support Skye slowly make her way upstairs.

“Hey Dad, why does Clint keep calling Mom Mels when she clearly doesn’t like it?” Skye asks curious as they near her bunk.

“Because she does actually like it.” Coulson explains.

“But every time he calls her that she says not to?” Skye asks confused.

“She can’t admit that she likes it.” Coulson admits “It’s a matter of pride, don’t try to understand it, trust me it’s very difficult to do. She actually likes it when he calls her Mels, though I’m positive that if anyone else called your Mom Mels she would make sure they only did it once.” Coulson explains.

“Does that include you?” Skye asks curious.

“If I called her Mels, yes. Mel, no.” Coulson explains as he helps Skye into her bed, as when they were together he used to call Melinda Mel all the time.

“If you can’t get away with it then why can Clint?” Skye asks interested.

“Because Clint is the little brother your mother never had.” Coulson explains simply. “They annoy each other, almost kill each other at times, but they care about each other and would do whatever it takes to protect one another. They’re brother and Sister, annoying each other is what they do.” Coulson explains as he sits down on the edge of Skye’s best.

“That sounds nice.” Skye tells her father “To have someone like a brother who annoys you but still cares about you.” Skye comments as she knows she has never had that.

“From what I’ve seen you and Fitz are starting to develop that.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Yeah I guess.” Skye comments realising that her Dad does have a point “Do you think that if things went differently, if I never got taken, that I could have had a little brother or sister?” Skye asks curious.

“I don’t know, maybe.” Coulson answers honestly, “You’re Mom doesn’t know this, but just before you were taken I was seriously thinking about resigning from S.H.I.E.L.D, being a full time stay at home Dad. I didn’t want to miss a single moment of you growing up, but I missed them all.” Coulson reveals, “I’m so proud of you Baby Girl, you’ve grown up to be an incredibly, smart, beautiful young woman, but I didn’t get to see you become the woman you are. I missed it all, your first steps your first word, first day at school, first date, first time driving. I wanted to be by your side always and I wasn’t.” Coulson tells his daughter clearly getting upset.

Skye reaches out and grabs her father’s hand “I know it’s not the same but you get to be by my side now. No matter what happens you’ll be there.” Skye tells her father, “I wish you got to see me grow up, I wish I got to grow up with you and Mom, but we can’t change what happened. We’ve just got to make the best of what we’ve got.” Skye tells her father, “I love you Dad.” Skye says saying the words for the first time in her life.

“Oh, I love you too Baby Girl.” Coulson says to his daughter giving her a hug as his heart fills with joy as he hears the words from his daughter that he has been hoping he would get to hear for twenty five years.

* * *

 

Half an hour after helping Skye to her room Coulson leaves his daughters bunk. When he exits his daughter’s bunk he sees Melinda, Natasha, and Clint sitting at the table.

“How is she?” Melinda asks concerned as Coulson walks over.

“Okay, she’s asleep.” Coulson answers “FitzSimmons and Ward?” He asks as he sits down.

“Downstairs, FitzSimmons wanted to work on something, Ward decided to stay down there with them.” Clint explains.

“Good.” Coulson comments. “I’m really glad you are here.” Coulson tells Clint and Natasha as he realises that he hasn’t had a chance to say it yet.

“We’re really glad you’re alive.” Natasha tells Coulson.

“I’ll drink to that.” Clint comments.

“It’s not even three pm.” Melinda comments.

“Really Mels, do you want to go there?” Clint asks his friend curious.

“Clint.” Coulson says in a warning tone of voice.

“It’s not three pm yet, which means that there doesn’t have to be a reason behind drinking.” Melinda comments ignoring Coulson’s concern because she knows that Clint is just messing with her.

“Now that’s the Mels I know.” Clint comments with a grin.

“Can I please suggest we hold on that to at least after dinner?” Coulson requests knowing that it is an almost futile request.

“What do you think Mels, Nat? Should we wait?” Clint asks the two women.

“It’s an interesting notion.” Melinda comments.

“An unusual one as well.” Natasha adds.

“Please remember that two of us have to be sober enough to do security tonight.” Coulson reminds them.

“Technically only one of us do.” Clint comments “We or You specifically can assign Ward to security then only one of us have to be sober.” He points out “And have you forgotten who you’re with? Do you know how much we would have to drink to get drunk?” Clint asks his friend curious.

“Yes, I know exactly how much.” Coulson comments. “We all do. No one knows our Alcohol tolerance like each other.” He reminds them.

“I don’t know whether that is a sad or amazing thing.” Natasha comments

“Bit of both.” Melinda answers and all four of them laugh.

“So you never answered, drinking? Now or later?” Clint asks curious.

“Later, come on.” Melinda says standing up “I want to show you what this bus is capable of.” She tells Clint knowing that he is the only one who will appreciate it.

“Does that mean your finally going to let me have a go at the stick of one of your planes?” Clint asks curious getting up to follow Melinda.

“Nope, but you can watch.” Melinda tells him, causing both Natasha and Coulson to smile at the look of a kicked puppy that Clint got on his face.

“Ten minutes to one of them is unconscious?” Natasha asks Coulson curious.

“Five, potentially.” Coulson answers “Look Tasha, there is something I need you to do for me.” Coulson tells friend.

“What?” Natasha asks curious as Coulson’s voice has gotten very serious.

“The Clairvoyant, Quinn, this is personal for me and Melinda. Both The Clairvoyant and Quinn have taken Skye, they crossed a line, I need you to make sure Melinda and I don’t.” Coulson reveals to his friend.

“Phil you and Melinda are the most professional people I know. No one can separate personal feelings from the job like you can, not even me. The fact that you are asking me this is proof of that.” Natasha tells her friend.

“These are the people who took my daughter Tash, these are the people who are the reason she grew up like she did. Every bad thing that has happened to her happened because of them and when we find them I don’t know what I am going to do.” Phil admits.

“You’ll do the right thing, you always do.” Natasha tells her friend, “It’s too quiet.” She says changing the subject but with the unsaid conformation that if she has to she will do as he asked.

“It really is.” Coulson says and without a word they both rush to the cockpit.

When they get to the Cockpit they are greeted with a sight that makes them both laugh, Clint duct taped to one of the chairs.

“Where did you get the duct tape from?” Coulson asks Melinda curious.

“Supplies closet behind you.” Melinda answers.

“What did he do?” Natasha asks curious though she makes no effort to cut her partner loose.

“Not what he was told.” Melinda says simply.

“Well, we’ll leave you to it.” Coulson comments, both him and Natasha ignoring Clint’s help me look because they both know that he will cut himself loose soon enough.

“This defiantly seems like old times.” Natasha comments as her and Coulson leave the cockpit.

“That it does, all we need is you and Melinda doing something stupid after drinking way too much Vodka and it will be exactly like it.” Coulson comments.

“Not everything we did was stupid.” Natasha argues.

“Do you want the list?” Coulson asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Why not? We’ve got some time.” Natasha comments and the two friends walk over to the couches and sit down.

* * *

 

After a delicious dinner cooked by Coulson with Natasha’s help the eight agents are sitting around the table in the couch area, all of them sitting on the floor instead of the various more comfortable pieces of furniture.

“How is this a good idea?” Ward asks.

“It’s not, but it’s not the worse one that he has ever had.” Coulson comments.

“Not cool man.” Clint tells his friend “My ideas are nowhere near as bad as some peoples.” He says looking at Natasha and Melinda as he comments.

“You’ve got a point there.” Coulson admits.

“Oh like your ideas are so smart mister-create-a-cover-as-a-champion-show-jumper-despite-the-fact-that-you-didn’t-know-how to-ride-a-horse.” Melinda comments remembering the incident from before they were married, when they were fresh out of the academy.

“I’m almost afraid to ask, what happened?” Skye asks her father interested.

“I got a few quick lessons from someone who did know how to ride a horse and broke an arm.” Coulson comments.

“Ouch.” Skye comment sympathetically, “Who gave you lesson?”

“Your mother.” Coulson answer.

“Didn’t you break that arm not during the op but trying to show off afterwards?” Clint asks curious with a grin as he knows the answer.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Coulson comments though the grins that both Natasha and Clint have on their faces and the small smirk that Melinda has on hers indicate that Clint was telling the truth.

“Dad showing off on a horse. I can’t see it.” Skye comments.

“I wasn’t showing of.” Coulson defends.

“Yes you were.” Melinda whispers quietly to Coulson so that none of the others can hear “And you know it, but you didn’t have to bother.” She tells him.

“It was one of the first times we worked together since the academy, I had to make you think that I was a kick ass as you.” Coulson whispers back.

“And Melinda and Phil will start us off by doing to shots and two dares or truths each.” Clint comments.

“Wait what?” Coulson asks confused hearing what Clint said, “When was that agreed on?”

“When you two were off in your own world.” Natasha comments.

“One shot, one dare or truth.” Melinda corrects.

“Agreed.” Natasha and Clint say after looking at each other.

“What exactly is the point of this?” Simmons ask Skye who is sitting across form her parents between Simmons and Ward. Simmons is sitting next to Fitz who is sitting next to Clint who is sitting next to Coulson who is sitting next to Melinda who is sitting next to Natasha who is sitting next to Ward.

“No idea.” Skye answers honestly “But it’s fun, and I’m getting even more stories on my parents, it’s great.” She comments, almost without a doubt sure that this would never have happened if Natasha and Clint weren’t there.

“Okay I have a truth for both of you.” Clint comments once Melinda and Coulson do their shot “Frankfurt, real or not?” He asks to the confusion of everyone but Natasha, Melinda and Coulson.

“Real.” Melinda and Coulson say without hesitation “Did you really waste one of your truths on that?” Melinda asks surprised.

“Just getting started Mels.” Clint tells her.

“Okay, I am going to put a stop to this before you two start a war, or Melinda and Tasha get started on the Vodka because the last thing I want to deal with is the fallout from either of those options.” Coulson says picking up all the bottles of Alcohol off the table “How about we just talk, without the drinks.” He suggests as he places all of them back into the bar.

“Okay, what is the story with you guys and Vodka?” Skye asks Natasha and her mother interested.

“We’re competitive, so quite often we like to see who can drink more, and if we are drinking vodka that leads to us thinking that really bad ideas are really good ones.” Melinda explains to her daughter.

“Like?” Skye asks interested.

“Sparring in Phil’s Kitchen.” Melinda says.

“Going to see Director Fury, after he had pulled us from a mission.” Natasha adds.

“Seeing which one of them can do the most summersaults’ in a fountain” Clint adds.

“Re writing a whole mission plan that was to be presented to director Fury first thing in the morning, then forgetting that that is what they did.” Coulson explains.

“And about a hundred other things that really weren’t smart.” Melinda explains.

“And another fifty you don’t remember.” Clint adds.

“Yes but you and Phil are all too happy to remind us.” Natasha tells him.

“Okay, I think I got it. You guys plus Vodka not good.” Skye comments.

“It can be great.” Clint comments “But only if you’re just watching, not if you have to clean up after them or…”

“Protect them.” Coulson adds.

“Save them.”

“Talk down from doing something truly idiotic”

“Deal with the Aftermath.”

“Deal with Director Fury.”

“Or if you get pulled into the middle.” Coulson and Clint explain.

“Sounds fun.” Skye comments honestly.

“Well you are defiantly your mother’s daughter Kid.” Clint says with a smile.

“Yeah, I am.” Skye answers also smiling.

For a couple of hours the group stays sitting around the table and talking, opening up to each other as they do. Then slowly they all head to bed until it is just Natasha and Clint, who are running security up.

* * *

 

It is almost three am when Natasha who is the stationary guard hears a noise from Skye’s room. She rushes in and to find Skye sitting up in bed looking terrified.

“Skye, what happened?” Natasha asks as she checks the small room for any sign of trouble.

“Nothing, just a nightmare. No need to worry.” Skye tells her.

“Do you want me to get your parents?” Natasha offers.

“No, it was just a nightmare. Plus they sleep less than me, they should get as much as they can.” Skye tells her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Natasha offers.

“No, you’ll just tell me what everyone else has. That it’s not my fault that I shouldn’t be guilty for Miles’s, or the Agent’s or the villages deaths because it wasn’t my fault, but it was. All of them would still be alive if it wasn’t for me, no words can change that.” Skye tells her parents friend.

“You’re right. Words can’t change the fact that people have died or the guilt you feel whether it’s warranted or not.” Natasha says taking several steps closer to Skye “But you can choose what you do with that guilt. You can let it eat you up inside, slowly destroying you, or you can decide to do something about it. Save others, make a difference, help them. It may take a while and you may never be able to, but you can try to make up for all the death you feel you have caused.” Natasha tells Skye.

“You know that is the first helpful thing anyone has told me when I said I was feeling guilty.” Skye admits.

“Not surprising.” Natasha tells Skye “You’re Dad’s a sentimentalist and your Mom feels more guilt than the population of a small country. They want you to be able to do what they can’t, move pass the guilt, and let it go.” Natasha says walking over and sitting down on Skye’s bed “I don’t know the full story, so tell me. Why do you feel guilty for Miles’s death, and Agent’s and Villagers?” Natasha asks curious.

“Miles was killed to lure me to the warehouse. The Agents were killed because they were sent to investigate me, and the villages died protecting me.” Skye explains.

“From the Clairvoyant’s people right?” Natasha asks

“Yeah.”

“Then no matter what you feel he’s to blame too.” Natasha tells her “I’m not going to tell you not to feel guilty or that it wasn’t your fault because that won’t change how you feel. What I am going to say is The Clairvoyant he played a part in this no matter what you feel you have to admit that. We will stop him, but even that probably won’t help your guilt, only you can do that. Take the time, do what you have to do to wash away the death. It’s the only way there is.” Natasha explains.

“Become someone that they would be proud to have given their lives for.” Skye mutters to herself.

“Exactly.” Natasha tells her.

“Thanks.” Skye tells her.

“Any time.” Natasha responds standing up.

“Goodnight Natasha.” Skye tells her as she lays down once more.

“Goodnight ребенок.” Natasha says with a small smile before leaving Skye’s room.

After Natasha leaves Skye ponders Natasha’s words and swears to herself and all those who have died because of her that she will make them proud, that she will make a difference and make up for everything that has happened because of her.

 

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	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** Thank you so much to you awesome people. For those of you who were wondering what Natasha calls Skye means Child in Russian and it is pronounced ree-BYOH-nuhk

* * *

 

The next morning Coulson is the first up. Once he wakes and gets changed he heads down to the kitchen where he sees Natasha drinking coffee.

“How did it go last night?” Coulson asks.

“Fine, no problems.” Natasha answers having decided hours ago that if Skye wants her parents to know about their conversation then she can tell them, she isn’t going to tell them in case Skye doesn’t want them to know.

“What is Melinda up to? Things seem a lot more rocky than normal.” Coulson comments as he pours himself a cup of coffee, attempting not to spill it as he does.

Before Natasha has a chance to answer the doors to Melinda’s and Skye’s bunks open and they both walk out.

“Hang on, this is definitely not autopilot and if you aren’t flying then who is?” Coulson asks Melinda.

“I’m am going to kill him.” Melinda says calmly walking into the cockpit.  

“Ah, that explains it.” Coulson comments sitting down.

“Um, shouldn’t we go stop that?” Skye ask her father walking over.

“No, Melinda and Clint threaten to kill each other daily.” Natasha explains. “In twenty years they haven’t actually done it yet.” She explains.

“You’re up early.” Coulson comments.

“Yeah, my arm was hurting, it woke me up.” Skye explains to her Dad.

“Do you want some medication?” Coulson asks his daughter as thing suddenly get a lot smoother.

“Yeah, thanks.” Skye responds and Coulson nods and goes and gets the pain medication.

“So Mom and Clint threaten to kill each other a lot and it’s nothing to worry about?” Skye asks Natasha surprised.

“Yes, I’m actually surprised that it hadn’t happened since we’ve been here.” She explains “Although your mother did duct tape Clint to a chair yesterday.” She adds.

“How did I miss that?” Skye asks with a grin though she is disappointed that she missed it.

“It was when you were sleeping.” Natasha explains.

“They’re odd.” Skye comment.

“I thought that for twenty years.” Natasha informs her

“Everyone has.” Coulson says walking back over. “Here.” He says handing Skye Panadol

“Thanks.” Skye responds.

“So plan for today?” Coulson asks Natasha.

“You and I go see Stark. Then we all try and find Quinn.” Natasha explains.

“Can I come?” Skye asks “I want to meet Tony Stark.” She tells her father.

“Not today.” Coulson tells his daughter knowing that it is dangerous.

“Come on Dad, please. I’ll behave, I promise I won’t hack into any of his systems.” She tells her father.

“If you did I wouldn’t mind.” Coulson tells his daughter amused as he pictures the look on Stark’s face if his Twenty Five year old Daughter had managed to hack into his system “But it’s too dangerous.”

“I would be with you and Natasha, there is no safer place.” Skye argues because she really wants to meet Tony Stark.

“Except here on the bus with your Mom, Clint and Ward.” Coulson tells his daughter “I promise another time I will introduce you to him, even take you to Start Tower if that’s what you want, but not today.” He tells his daughter as he knows that with Quinn and The Clairvoyant on the loose it’s too dangerous.  

“I’m holding you to that.” Skye tells her father. “When you do, do I have to stick to that no hacking his systems thing?” Skye asks her father hoping the answer is no she doesn’t have to stick to that

“I’ll let you know.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Stark has the best security on his systems, you might want to prepare yourself if you plan to try.” Natasha advices.

“I hacked S.H.I.E.L.D from my van with a laptop I won in a bet, I’m not worried.” Skye tells Natasha with a shrug.

“Are you sure introducing her to Stark is a good idea, between them no electronic system would be safe.” Natasha comments looking at Coulson impressed with what Skye managed to do.

“I’ll get back to you on that.” Coulson comments.

“You’ve already said yes, you can’t go back on that.” Skye tells her father.

“I won’t.” Coulson tells his daughter “I’m just worried about what will happen when you do meet.” Coulson explains as Clint walks out from the cockpit.

“What are we talking about?” Clint asks curious as he walks over.

“About how considering Skye managed to hack S.H.I.E.L.D from her van with a laptop she won in a bet, introducing her to Stark may not be the best idea.” Natasha explains.

“Wow, impressive Kid.” Clint tells her “Is that what got you on S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar?” he asks curious remembering what she said the day before.

“Yep.” Skye answers.

“Oh, Mels said touchdown in an hour.” Clint tells Coulson.

“Good.” Coulson answers. “Because she was more concerned with killing you she didn’t have her morning coffee, I’ll take her some.” He comments before pouring another mug and taking into the cockpit.

“So what did Mom do to you?” Skye asks Clint once Coulson has exited the room “She said she was going to kill you but I’ve been assured that that would never actually happen, so what did?” Skye asks curious.

“Threw me out of the pilots’ chair.” Clint answers simply like it is no big deal “Surprisingly not as bad as what I was expecting, Mels is getting soft.” Clint comments with a smirk.

“Don’t let her hear you say that.” Natasha tells her partner.

“Trust me I won’t, I have a small bit of self-preservation.” He comments.

“You sometimes do, not very often.” Natasha tells him.

“Kid, this is the most important question I will ever ask you.” Clint says looking at Skye “Do you cook like your Mom or Dad?” He asks his voice completely serious.

“What?” Skye asks laughing at the fact that he got all serious to ask her that.

“It’s an important question, your mother has destroyed several stoves while your Dad is an incredible cook. So which one are you like?” Clint asks.

“My Mom has destroyed stoves?” Skye ask surprised.

“Several.” Natasha answers.

“But in all fairness to your Mom Nat here is partly to blame for one.” Clint explains “So are you a stove killer or an incredible cook?” Clint asks.

“Well I haven’t destroyed any stoves, but I have almost destroyed a microwave and almost set fire to my van using a hot plate, so I would say I’m closer to Mom’s skill level than Dad’s.” Skye explains.

“Okay you can join your mother on the list of people not allowed in the kitchen.” Clint comments.

“I already am.” Skye says remembering when the team made breakfast together and her and her mother weren’t allowed in the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, if Coulson had his way no one but him would be allowed in any kitchen he considers to be his.” Natasha tells Skye.

“You know that makes me feel better.” Skye tells her and Natasha just gives her a small smile back in response.

* * *

 

An hour and a half later the plane is touched down and everyone is down in the Cargo Bay preparing for Natasha and Coulson to leave.

“Won’t Lola draw too much attention to you guys?” Skye asks her father concerned.

“Not where we’re going.” Coulson tells her “Plus it is less noticeable than the S.H.I.E.L.D car.” Coulson tells his daughter “We’re going radio silent. Only break if there is an emergency. Should be back in a couple of hours at the most. You’re in charge.” Coulson tells Melinda who nods and he and Natasha get in Lola and drive out of the plane.

“Hey Kid, do you want to hear the story of when Natasha stole Lola?” Clint asks curious as he knows from Natasha that Skye wasn’t too happy about not being able to meet Stark so it could cheer her up.

“Seriously? Natasha stole Lola?” Skye asks shocked.

“Yep.” Clint and Melinda both answer. “It didn’t end well.” Clint informs her and as they leave the cargo bay neither of them nor anyone else noticing the less than impressed look that Ward has on his face.

* * *

 

“So will it just be Stark or will someone else be with him?” Coulson asks Natasha five minutes after they leave the plane.

“Not sure.” Natasha answers honestly “Pepper could be with him or Banner or the Cap.” Natasha explains.

“Right Fury said something about that, said that Banner and Stark are good friends, but I though he and the Cap didn’t get along too well.” Coulson comments.

“They have their moments.” Natasha answers “But I think that if Stark had managed to contact the Cap and tell him that you’re alive, that I was going to see you, and then that I’m called to cryptically meet Stark somewhere, Cap would want to be there to find out if you were doing okay.” Natasha tells her friend

“Really?” Coulson asks surprised.

“Yeah, he was pretty affected by your death Phil, him and Stark.” Natasha explains, “When Clint and I left to others to go see Melinda he asked if we were going to go tell your girlfriend the Cellist, that Stark told him about, what happen to you and I said no. I told him that we were going to go tell someone more important to you, and once we explained who he asked if he could come to offer his condolences, but Clint and I told him it wasn’t a good idea because we didn’t know how Melinda was going to react.”  Natasha explains.

Coulson is surprised by Natasha’s words, he didn’t think that he had that kind of effect on them “I told him I watched him when he was unconscious.”  Coulson reveals causing Natasha to laugh.

“Only you would say that to someone Phil.” Natasha says once she finishes laughing and her voice turns serious “You also scarified yourself Phil, believed in us when we didn’t, he respects you for that.” Natasha explains. “And we all owe you, we wouldn’t have saved the world if it wasn’t for you.” She tells her friend.

“He’s not alone.” Coulson comments not sure what to make of Natasha’s words, as they near to figures standing near the path that they are driving down, one of the figures is Tony Stark like they expected, and the other is Steve Rogers.

“Looks like you’re going to see for yourself what I have been trying to tell you.” Natasha tells him,

“Nice ride.” Tony comments as Coulson pulls up behind Tony’s car.

“Don’t bother Stark, he doesn’t even let Melinda drive the thing.” Natasha says as she exits the car and Stark walks over to look at Lola.

“I’m with him there, no one in their right mind would let their ex-wife drive a car like this.” Stark comments as he look closely the car.  

“Melinda’s more likely to destroy him if she’s mad, not his car.” Natasha tells him “Let’s walk.” He tells the other three and the group head off into the woods that they pulled off near.

“It’s really good to see you.” Steve says shaking Coulson’s hand once they reach a clearing about five minutes later.

“You too.” Coulson responds.

“You’re an idiot.” Tony tells Coulson “What were you thinking when you went after Loki alone?”

“That someone had to.” Coulson answers “Have you found the file?” He asks wanting to know just how much Stark knows.

“Yeah I have.” Tony answers “I’m sorry, I’m glad you alive, but he shouldn’t have done that to do it.” He tells him.

“Done what?” Natasha asks confused.

“She doesn’t know?” Tony asks surprised.

“I haven’t gotten around to telling her.” Coulson admits as he purposely left it out of his story about what he has been up to, “I only found out the truth a couple of months ago and the only person I told was Melinda, not even Skye knows everything.”

“I showed Steve the file, hope that’s okay.” Tony tells him and Coulson nods “I didn’t tell Pepper everything though, figured it would be best like that.” He comments

“Thanks.” Coulson tells him.

“Do one of you want to start talking?” Natasha says to them clearly unimpressed that she is the only one who doesn’t know what is going on.

“I was dead for days Tasha, but Fury wouldn’t accept that. He did everything he could to bring me back, and when I was brought back I begged for death, I didn’t want to live anymore.” Coulson explains “So they changed my memories made me think I was in Tahiti and I believed that. I finally found out what really happened when Rania put me in a memory chamber and I demanded the truth.” Coulson explains to Natasha’s shock.

“Okay, less depressive topic. What are you doing here?” Stark asks several minutes later.

“That’s not much better.” Natasha comments still surprised by what Coulson revealed.

“Why? What’s going on?” Steve asks concerned.

“Coulson, his team, Clint and I are going ‘off book’ to further notice.” Natasha explains.

“Which means?” Stark asks.

“That we are on our own, we have no backup or support from S.H.I.E.L.D.” Coulson explains simply.

“That seems drastic.” Tony comments.

“It’s what we have to do.” Natasha explains “Quinn escaped and the Clairvoyant wants Phil and his daughter for something and we can’t let that happen. Going of book while we try to track down them both is the best option we have to keep everyone safe.” Natasha explains.

“I’ve read everything that S.H.I.E.L.D has on the Clairvoyant, you’ve had a busy few months.” Tony says looking at Coulson.

“That we have.” Coulson answers.

“Do you need more help?” Steve asks having been giving the cliff notes version of what Stark knows during the drive.

“Not at the moment, but thanks.” Coulson tells him.

“What we need is a go between. If there are things that Fury thinks we really need to know he will contact you and you’ll pass it on to us.” Natasha informs Stark “If there are things we need Fury to know we will tell you and you’ll pass it on for us, that’s if you’re willing.” She says to Stark.

“I can do that.” Stark answers.

“Good.” Natasha tells him.

“So this team of yours, they any good?” Stark asks curious.

“The best.” Coulson answers “But you already knew that.” Knowing that it’s likely that he has researched them.

“Yeah.” Stark admits. “What about your systems? If you’re going off book I assume you don’t want to be traced or hacked. Do you want me to have a look at you systems to make sure you’re covered?” Stark asks.

“Thanks but we’ve got it covered. My daughter and two of the members of my team got us off line from serves and databases and my Daughter created the firewalls and encryption herself. We’re covered.” Coulson informs Stark.

“You sure about that? Or is this your fatherly pride talking?” Stark asks.

“Stark, Skye managed to hack S.H.I.E.L.D from her van with a laptop, I don’t even think you could have done that.” Natasha tells Tony.

“Okay that is impressive.” Tony admits. “So how do I contact you?” he asks.

“You don’t.” Natasha tells him “We’ll contact you, it’s the only way to keep everyone safe.”

“If you need help just let me know and I’ll be there.” Steve tells Natasha and Coulson

“Thanks Cap.” Coulson and Natasha respond.

“How is your Daughter sir?” Steve asks curious, “Stark said that she was hurt.” Steve comments.

“She’s doing okay.” Coulson answers “She pulled one of her stiches yesterday and her arms hurting and she’s feeling guilty about what has happened but for the most part she is doing okay.” Coulson explains.

“That’s good.” Steve comments “I’m glad you found her. Natasha told me that you have been looking for her for a very long time.” He comments

“A very long time.” Coulson answers. “Melinda and I never stopped.”

“Oh that reminds me, when things are all sorted Pepper wants you, Melinda, and your daughter to come over for dinner.” Tony tells Coulson.

“Skye will like that.” Natasha informs Coulson “You did promise her a trip to Stark Tower.”

“You did?” Tony asks surprised.

“She wasn’t happy that she couldn’t come with Natasha and me today. She really wants to meet you.” Coulson tells him.

“Well as soon as you’re able to you have to bring her around.” Tony tells him.

“I will.” Coulson tells him.

“Oh and Pepper is pissed at you for not telling us that you were alive.” He adds.

“And you’re not?” Coulson asks.

“I was until I read what Fury did to you, my anger is more at him than you.” Tony tells him “But that doesn’t mean that you’re completely off the hook about not telling us that you’re alive Phil.”

“Did you just call me Phil?” Coulson asks surprised.

“Well that is apparently your name so I thought why not?” Tony comments.

“We should get going.” Natasha comments several minutes later when Coulson hasn’t said anything due to shock.

“Remember what I said, if you need help just ask.” Steve says shaking Natasha’s hand once they are back at the cars.

“We will Cap.”

“It was good to see you again.” Steve tells Coulson “I’m glad you’re alive. Thank you for what you did.” Steve tells Coulson.

“No, thank you Captain for what you do.” Coulson tells him.

“We couldn’t have done it without you.” Steve tells him shaking his hands.

“Stark.” Coulson says sticking his hand out for Tony to shake. Tony does shake his hand but he uses it to pull Coulson In for a hug. “If you ever need to talk about what happened, just call, and don’t ever do something that stupid again.” He says to Coulson quietly.

“Agent Romanoff.” Tony says to Natasha once he breaks the hug with Coulson who is standing in shock.

“Stark, I’ll be seeing you soon.” Natasha tells him.

“I don’t doubt it.” Stark says as he and Steve get into his car.

“Coulson you alive?” Natasha asks her friend as Tony and Steve drive off.

“Phil, hello?” Natasha says waving her hand in front of Coulson’s face but he is so surprised that he doesn’t even react.

“Guess you won’t be needing these.” Natasha comments reaching down and grabbing the keys out of Coulson’s hand.

“Don’t even think about it.” Coulson says snapping out of his shock.

“Finally, let’s go then.” Natasha comments getting in Lola’s passenger side.

“Right.” Coulson comment getting in the driver’s side.

“Did that really happen?” Coulson asks curious, wanting to be sure.

“Stark, hugging you? Yep. I wish I had a camera Clint and Melinda would have loved to see that.” Natasha comments as Coulson starts the car and drives them back to the plane.

 

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	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Three weeks later the group are no closer to finding Quinn or the Clairvoyant. Once a week Natasha sometimes with Coulson or Clint show up where they know Tony Stark is going to be to see if he has anything from Director Fury and so far all they know is that Quinn managed to escape by using an airborne version of the dendrotoxin to cause all the people in the facility where Quinn and Rania were being kept to be knocked out and believe that no time has passed as well as altering the security cameras to make it look like they were both still in their cells.

During the past three weeks Clint and Natasha has become a part of the team and it’s clear to everyone that Melinda and Coulson like having their old friends around and Skye has started to see the two older Agents like an Aunt and Uncle.

It is just before the middle of the day and everyone is scattered thought-out the plane. Natasha and Melinda are in the cockpit, Coulson and Clint are up in Coulson’s office, FitzSimmons are down in the lab and Skye is sitting on the couches on her laptop when Ward walks in.

“Hey, I’ve been wondering where you’ve been.” Skye tells him.

“I’ve been around, you’ve just been busy.” Ward comments as he walks over and sits down across from her.  

“Yeah, trying to find Quinn, not exactly easy.” Skye comments.

“That’s not all you’ve been doing.” Ward mutters though not loud enough for her to hear.

“What?” Skye asks hearing him mutter but not what he said.

“Nothing.” Ward answers “Have you had any luck?” He asks curious.

“No, but I’m working on it.” Skye comments “But I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you for a few days.” Skye says moving her laptop off her legs. “All my wounds are healed and I know it would be difficult with my arm in a cast but I was wondering if we could get back to my training.” She asks.

“If you think you’re ready.” Ward tells her “I think we could come up with some kind of alternative training schedule until your arm is better.” He explains.

“Cool.” Skye says.

“So when do you want to start?” Ward asks.

“Tomorrow?” Skye ask “I’m working on an idea that if it pans out could help us find Quinn.” Skye explains.

“Oh yeah? What are you thinking?” Ward asks curious.

“It was Clint’s idea actually.” Skye comments not noticing the look that Ward gets on his face at the mention of Clint “He was saying that someone like Quinn couldn’t go very long without contacting someone. He has too many business that he is still trying to run, other venturers that he won’t want to just let go and that could be our key to finding him.” Skye explains “So I’m working on that. I’m tracing the actions of Quinn’s key shareholders or key members of Quinn worldwide and seeing what connections I can find, any pattern to their behaviour that a lot of them share. Then I’m hoping that there will be something that could lead us to Quinn.” Skye explains.

“And how’s it going?” Ward asks interested.

“Slow. So far I haven’t seen anything that sticks out that we can use, but I’ll see what I can find.” Skye explains.

“So are you going to work on that all day?” Ward asks.

“Until I found something, yeah.” Skye responds.

“You should take a break.” Ward tells her, “Have some fun.” He suggest.

“Wow, it must be serious if you’re telling me I need to have fun.” Skye comments stressing the you’re.

“I’m serious Skye, all you’ve been doing lately is trying to find Quinn. When was the last time you did something relaxing?” Ward asks.

“This morning.” Skye answers “Clint and I got in a water fight.” Skye says remembering what happened when they attempted to do the dishes.

“Oh right Clint.” Ward says standing up.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Skye asks.

“Nothing.” Ward says walking towards his bunk.

“No, that meant something. Do you not like Clint?” Skye asks following him.

“I like Agent Barton just fine, but maybe you like him a bit too much.” Ward comments

“I’m going to tell you something you clearly don’t realises.” Skye says angrily “He is a brother to my parents, their family, which makes him mine as well. In my head I call him Uncle Clint, that’s what he is to me, an Uncle or what I’ve always imagined an Uncle is.” Skye says angrily “Grow up Ward, if you want to say something to me just say it. Stop acting like a jealous teenager.” Skye says angrily before grabbing her laptop and going to her bunk, slamming the door as she does.

“Agent Ward, a word.” Clint says walking down the stairs from Coulson’s office, glad that he closed the door before he left.

“Sir?” Ward asks nervously though trying not to show it.

“You’re behaviour for the last week has been out of line, but I’ve let it slide, not anymore.” Clint informs Ward “I don’t know what your feelings are in regards to Skye but I do know that she looks up to you and is very thankful to have you as friend, her SO, and she doesn’t want to lose you. Figure out whatever it is that you are feeling and do something about it, because believe me when I say you’ll regret if you don’t. But remember this, that girl is loved by some pretty powerful people all of whom will not hesitate to make you pay if you hurt her. Do I make myself clear?” Clint asks.

“Yes Sir.” Ward responds.

“Good.” Clint says before walking away and into the Cockpit deciding to let Skye calm down before he talks to her.

After Clint leaves Ward stands in shock for a while until he realises what he has to do he walks over to Skye’s bunk and knocks.

“Skye, I’m sorry.” He says knocking on the door “I care about you and after everything that has happened I don’t want you hurt again, that’s what I thought Agent Barton was, just someone else who could hurt you, but he’s obviously not. He’s someone else who wants to stop you from getting hurt. I’m sorry I overreacted.” He says through the door.

“You know the Tin Man is meant to be missing a heart, not a brain.” Skye says opening her door.

“I’m sorry.” Ward tells her.

“That doesn’t make things okay.” Skye tells him.

“I’ve hid the last of those Chocolate Cookies that Agent Romanoff made, does that help?” Ward asks curious.

“Bribery?” Skye asks and Ward nods “Yeah that helps.” She admits.

“Come on Rookie.” Ward tells her with a smile.

“Where did you hid them? Mom and I spent two days looking for them.” Skye comments.

“I know. That’s why I hid them.” Ward comments as they walk over to his bunk and he pulls out a baggie of Chocolate Cookies from the cupboard.

“Are those the Agent Romanoff’s chocolate cookies?” Fitz asks as he and Simmons walk over to the pair.

“Yep, Ward hid them, can you believe him?” Skye asks walking over to the L shaped couch round the corner and siting down.

“How could you do that?” Simmons ask Ward.

“Because I actually wanted some.” Ward comments.

“I don’t think you should get any it would be the fair thing to do considering you tried to keep them for yourself.” Fitz comments.

“That would be too mean.” Skye comments pulling out a cookie and breaking it in half “You can have half.” She says handing the half over to Ward before handing both Simmons and Fitz a whole cookie each.

“Thanks.” Ward tells her with a smile.

“These biscuits are amazing.” Fitz comments.

“They really are.” Skye comments.

“All we need is something to drink and then this would be a real party.” Simmons comments.

“Party?” Skye says to the others confusion “That’s it.” Skye says getting up and running to her bunk and grabbing her laptop.

“What are you talking about?” Ward asks curious.

“I think I know how we can find Quinn.” Skye says hurriedly typing something on her computer.

* * *

 

Over an hour later Skye has called everyone down to the Command Centre to tell them what she found.

“What have you got?” Coulson asks his daughter.

“So I’ve been working on trying to find Quinn and Clint gave me the idea that the key might be the people he interacts with and then Simmons gave me the idea of party then I remembered that a lot of the people who Quinn is likely to still be in contact with will be at the same party tonight. It’s in London and for the vice president of Quinn World Wide, it’s a very formal black tie party and more than half the guest list has some kind of personal relationship with Quinn, this could be our chance.” Skye comments.

“We’re never going to be able to get into a party like that.” Ward comments.

“Actually we are.” Skye comments “I’ve gotten into the server where the guest list is kept I can add however many people we need to the list, though I would say no more than two, and no one would be any the wiser.” She explains.

“Two of us could go in place trackers on the people who are most likely to lead us to Quinn and then all we would have to do is wait.” Natasha realises.

“I would recommend these three.” Skye says casing three people to appear on the screen “The VP of Quinn worldwide, Quinn’s personal lawyer, and one of his key shareholders. They are the most likely to have contact with Quinn.” Skye explains.

“What are our options when it comes to trackers?” Coulson asks FitzSimmons.

“Ever since Skye was taken and the sent failed us we have been working on a new tracker.” Fitz Explains, “One touch and it will painlessly supplicant itself under the skin. No electronic signature but can be traced having the exact code, which only we have.” Fitz explains.

“Sounds good.” Coulson comments.

“Hang on there is something else.” Skye comments “The server with the guest list in was difficult to get into, extremely so, but wasn’t as hard as it could have been.” Skye explains “There is the possibility that this is a trap or that Quinn was alerted the second I got in.” She explains.

“This is the only lead we’ve had in three weeks. We can’t pass this us.” Natasha comments. ”What do say Melinda? Do you feel like going to a party?” Natasha asks her friend curious.

“It has been a while since I had a night on the town, why not.” Melinda comments.

“You did hear the part about this maybe being a trap right?” Skye asks “You could be walking right into a trap.” Skye tells Natasha and Melinda.

“I heard you Skye, which is why Melinda and I will be the ones doing it. We can’t pass up this opportunity and between Melinda and me we can handle anything.” Natasha comments “That’s if it’s okay with you. You’re the boss after all.” She says to Coulson.

For several minutes Coulson ponders everything “We do this smart.” He answers “You’re right we can’t pass on this but we need to make sure you two are safe.” Coulson says to Melinda and Natasha.

“Skye can you pull up a diagram of the building?” Coulson asks his daughter.

“Yep, done.” Skye says pulling up the plan.

“Clint, best point for you and Ward to be stationed?” Coulson asks and Clint walks over to the screen to look closely at plan to pick the best place.

“Here.” Clint says pointing to a building in front and to the left of the building. “Not to close but not too far, we will be able to see into the event room and help if there is any problem.” He says.

“Sir what if that is the actual trap.” Ward comments “Quinn and the Clairvoyant has researched us. If they know that Agents Barton and Romanoff are on the plane then they will know that they will have to get them plus Agent May and myself away if they want a chance of getting to you and Skye. Maybe that is the trap, giving us an opportunity that they know we wouldn’t be able to pass up to get us away from the plane, away from you.” Ward comments realising that it would make sense.

Everyone is quite for a few minutes knowing that Ward does have a very good point.

“Put the plane on Lockdown.” Melinda comments causing everyone to look at her “Once we leave put the plane on Lockdown until we get back, no one can breach that.” She comments.

“We did.” Skye reminds her.

“From the inside. When we were in the air. Doing it from the outside when on the ground is basically impossible.” Melinda tells her.

“So Mom and Natasha go in, Ward and Clint provide back up. What about us four?” Skye asks, “What do we do from a lockdown plane?” She asks.

“Surveillance, tracking, run the back end.” Coulson comments. “Work with FitzSimmons and Skye, get a good backstory in place.” He tells Melinda and Natasha who nod before exiting the Command Centre.

* * *

 

At eight o’clock that night everyone except for Natasha and Melinda are ready for the mission. They have the car they rented for Melinda and Natasha standing by and Ward and Clint have everything they need loaded into the vehicle.

“What’s taking them so long?” Ward asks.

“Do you want to explain it or should I?” Clint asks Coulson as he Coulson and Ward are waiting outside the Command centre while Skye, and FitzSimmons are inside doing last minute things that they need to get done.

“You.” Coulson tells his friend.

“Ward if you don’t want to drive yourself crazy you never ask that.” Clint says walking over to Ward and putting his hand on his shoulder “Why women take so long to get ready is one of life’s great mysteries that not even we know the answer to. In a lot of ways Melinda May and Natasha Romanoff aren’t like other women, except when it comes to getting ready for a fancy event and I think that’s the first time I got away with saying that without them walking up behind me.” Clint explains looking around expecting to be hit.

“It is.” Coulson comments amused.

“We’re going to be late.” Ward comments looking at his watch.

“No you’re not.” Coulson answers “You’ve got another ten minutes before you have to leave. Melinda and Natasha will be ready then.” He explains.

“Trust us, we have some experience with this.” Clint tells Ward “They will be ready exactly when they have to be.”

Over five minutes later the door to the bathroom opens and Melinda and Natasha walk out. They are both wearing short black dresses but they are different styles. Natasha’s has no straps with a straight top while Melinda’s has a strap over each shoulder and a V neck. Melinda’s hair down and straightened while Natasha’s is up in a high neat bun. Both are also wearing black stilettos, but Melinda’s are open toed while Natasha’s are closed.

“Uh, Coulson, Barton.” Ward says as they two men are staring at Melinda and Natasha as they walk towards them.

“What?” They both ask.

“Nothing.” Ward says though he is amused by the two senior Agent’s reaction.

“Wow Mom, Natasha, you both look amazing.” Skye tells her mother Natasha as she exits the Command Centre Fitz and Simmons behind her.

“Thank Skye.” Melinda and Natasha say.

“She’s right you do look incredible.” Coulson tell Melinda quietly “Be careful tonight.” He tells her.

“We will, but it’s me and Tasha what could go wrong?” Melinda asks Coulson.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Coulson asks with an amused smile.

“No.” Melinda replies “We’ve got to go. You guys be careful too.” She tells Coulson.

“I will.” Coulson responds.

“Good Luck.” Skye says walking over and giving her mother a hug. “Both of you.” Skye says giving Natasha a hug as well.

“See you later.” Melinda says. “Put the plane on lockdown as soon as we go.” Melinda tells Coulson who nods

“Do you have the trackers?” Fitz asks and Melinda and Natasha nod.

“Good, then let’s go.” Ward comments and he, Clint, Melinda and Natasha leave.

“Dad come on, we’ve got to get the last few things on line.” Skye says as her father who is watching Melinda go.

* * *

 

An hour later Natasha and Melinda arrive at the party destination.

“You ready for this?” Natasha asks Melinda as the valet takes their car.

“Always, are you?” Melinda asks.

“Of course.” Natasha answers.

“Names please?” The man at door ask.

“Nicky Frank.” Natasha answers.

“Maria Holden.” Melinda responds.

“Really? You couldn’t be any more inventive than that? Really?” Coulson asks surprised through the coms.

“Ah here you are.” The doorman answers “Welcome Ms Frank, Ms Holden.” He says allowing them to enter.

“Thank you.” Melinda and Natasha say as they enter.

Ten minutes after they enter the party they have managed to tag Quinn’s lawyer with the tracker and have talked to quite a few of the guest’s. They are blend in flawlessly amongst the guests and if you didn’t know better you would be sure that they do this every day, that black-tie events are where they belong.

“They’re really good at this.” Skye says to her father.

“They have a lot of experience.” Coulson answers, “But there is also no one better.” He answers “Clint, Ward? What it look like?” Coulson asks.

“Everything’s fine Phil, relax a bit.” Clint tells him.

“Melinda? Tasha? How things going?” Coulson asks.

“Things are fine.” Melinda answers.

“Relax a…, Oh crap.” Natasha comments.

“What’s wrong?” Coulson asks concerned.

“Skye did any of the guest lists that you saw say Tony Stark?” Natasha asks as she spots the billionaire walk in with Pepper Potts.

“No.” Skye answers.

“And he’s spotted us.” Natasha comments as Tony and Pepper walk over.

“Well this is a surprise, Agent Romanoff.” Tony greets.

“You must have me confused with someone else, my name is Nicky Frank.” Natasha says giving Tony a look which says ‘shut up’.

“No, I’m pretty sure I’m not, especially considering you’re Agent Melinda May.” He comments looking at Melinda.

“Phil’s Melinda?” Pepper asks surprised.

“That’s the one.” Tony answers. “Now this is a surprise to see you both, but I guess I should be used to it considering you have just been showing up wherever I am for the last three weeks.” Tony comments.

“Not everything is about you Stark.” Natasha says taking a step closer to Tony “We actually have a job to do and while we do this job I’m Nicky Frank and this my friend Maria Holden and you will remember that.” She says the threatening undertone of her voice clear.

“Yes Ma’am.” Tony responds sarcastically.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Melinda says shaking Pepper’s hand once Natasha finishes threatening Tony.

“You too.” Pepper responds. “I love the dress.”

“Thanks.” Melinda says and before she can say anymore the back twenty heavenly armed men walk into the room.

“Nat? Mels? What is going on? We’ve lost our visual.” Clint’s worried voice asks through the coms.

“This just got interesting.” Tony comments, “I’m guessing they’re here for you.” He comments looking at Natasha and Melinda.

“Clint, Ward hold your position until you get my say so. We’ve got this.” Natasha says through the coms.

“You’ve got this?” Stark ask surprised “There are twenty armed me and neither of you are armed, how exactly do you have this?” He asks the pair as the men demand that any agents of S.H.I.E.L.D show themselves or they will start killing.

“Sudan?” Natasha asks Melinda.

“That will work.” Melinda responds with a nod “Pepper, stay back, stay hidden.” Melinda advices “And Stark….” Melinda begins to say

“Stay out of our way.” Natasha finishes.  

“You want us.” Melinda says as her and Tasha walk towards the men.

“I trust you will come quietly.” The men tell Natasha and Melinda.

“Of course.” Natasha responds.

“They are unarmed, about to be captured, what are they planning on doing?” Tony asks Pepper confused about what they could have planned.

“That, apparently.” Pepper comments shocked as Natasha and Melinda take out the guys who were coming to restrain them then within minutes have taken down all the other men. Having not killed a single one of them only knocking them unconscious or wounding them and without a single civilian casualty.  

“Ward, Clint, meet us out the front.” Melinda says as they walk back over to Tony and Pepper.

“Coulson everything okay there?” Natasha asks.

“Yeah, everything’s fine here. How about you two. Are you alright?” He asks concerned.

“We’re fine.” Natasha responds

“We’ve got to go.” Melinda tell Pepper and Tony as Natasha talks to Coulson “Nice meting you both.” She tells the pair.

“Yeah, you too.” Pepper responds though she is still shocked about what they managed to do.

“Bailing before the cops get here smart idea considering two of you just managed to knock out twenty guys without a single weapon, but what do I tell them?” Tony asks them.

“Tell them that you don’t need the suit to be super.” Natasha says as her and Melinda walk away from him and Pepper

“So that was Phil’s ex-wife.” Pepper comments.

“Yeah, I’m having a real hard time trying to think of a reason why he would ever divorce a woman like that.” Tony comments resulting in him a very un impressed look from Pepper.

(Line break)

Melinda and Natasha run right out of the building and into Ward and Clint’s waiting car.

“Drive.” Melinda calmly tells them when they get it.

“Are you two okay?” Clint asks concerned.

“Yeah we’re fine.” Natasha answers.

* * *

 

Once they are back at the plane, after assuring her daughter that she is okay Melinda gets the plane in the air and once she is able to engage auto pilot, which is about forty minutes after they are in the air, she does. After waiting a few minutes to assure that the autopilot is working Melinda exits the cockpit.

When she walks into the main part of the plane she sees Coulson sitting at the breakfast bar, trying not to make it obvious that he is waiting for her.

“Where is everyone?” Melinda asks as she walks over to Coulson.

“Skye, Ward and FitzSimmons all went to bed. Tasha and Clint are downstairs somewhere.” Coulson comments. “Are you alright?” he asks concerned

“Yeah, I’m fine. I think I made quite the impression on your friend Tony Stark though.” Melinda comments.

“I bet you did.” Coulson says with a small laugh. “You know what this dress reminds me of?” He asks Melinda.

“The one I wore graduation night from the academy.” Melinda realises after a couple of minutes of thinking, “Only you would remember that dress.” She comments as even though she barely remembers the dress she isn’t surprised that Phil does.

“Of course I remember, that was the first time I let you go.” Coulson comments remembering.

“Little black dress, big party, even bigger fight, it does remind me of that night.” Melinda comments. “You know you still owe me a dance.” Melinda reminds him.  

“It’s been thirty years.” Coulson comments getting up and walking over to the radio where he puts his phone into the speakers and plays a song “I shouldn’t keep you waiting any longer.” He says walking back over to Melinda and sticking out his hand.

“No, you shouldn’t.” Melinda says taking Coulson’s hand which he uses to pull her in close to him and the pair dance.

For several minutes the pair dance in silence just listening to the lyrics of What A Wonderful World, the first song they ever danced to together and the song that they danced to around their hotel room after they were married.

Unknown to Melinda and Coulson just after they started dancing Natasha and Clint came upstairs to look for them as they felt the plane switch to autopilot.

“Let’s give them their moment.” Clint says to Natasha after watching the pair with a smile on his face for a minute. Natasha nods and the pair head back downstairs, leaving their friends alone together.

“I love you Mel.” 

“I love you Phil.”

The pair say to each other before exchanging a passionate kiss.

 

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 **AN3** : So I know that ‘It’s A Wonderful World’ may not seem like a fitting song for May and Coulson but I choose it for personal reason as it was my parent’s weeding song. My parents were married for almost twenty four years at the time of my father’s death on the 9th of June 2012, so it has personal meaning to me and that’s why I used it.

 


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

The next morning Clint and Natasha are sitting at the breakfast bar when Skye exits the cockpit.

“Hey, have you guys seem my Mom?” Skye asks curious “She’s not in her bunk or the cockpit and I wanted to talk to her.” She comments.

“She’s upstairs talking work with your Dad in his office.” Natasha tells Skye.

“Thanks.” Skye says before walking over to the stairs.

“Skye before you do that you might want to go see Agent Ward, he was looking for you and it seemed important.” Natasha lies.

“What could he want? I just finished training with him half an hour ago.” Skye comments.

“No idea, but it seemed important.” Clint comments following Natasha’s lead.

“Guess I better go see then.” Skye says walking down the couple of stairs that she climbed down.

“They owe us big time for this.” Natasha comments walking over to Melinda’s bunk and grabbing a set of clothes out once Skye has gone downstairs.

“I thought that we decided a long time ago that we wouldn’t keep track of who owes whom between the four of us?” Clint comments amused.

“This is different.” Natasha tells him “Make sure she doesn’t come up these stairs. “ Natasha says as she climbs out the stairs when she gets to the upper level she walks right over to Coulson’s private bedroom and enters without knocking and just like she expected she finds Melinda and Coulson in bed together.

“Unless you want your daughter to find you like this, get up and get dressed.” Natasha says dropping the clothes she got for Melinda on the end of the bed “She thinks that you two are in Phil’s office working.” She says then without another word she leaves.

“They’re never going to let us forget this.” Coulson comments privately being glad that Natasha didn’t decide to enter without knocking ten minutes earlier.

“Defiantly not.” Melinda says sitting up. “And don’t think I can’t feel that look.” Melinda informs Coulson.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Coulson responds innocently.

“Yes you do.” Melinda comments turning around to look at him as she reaches over and grabs the top Natasha got her.

“I really don’t.” Coulson tells Melinda as he sits up and reaches over to Melinda and pulls her closer.

“I know what you’re doing.” Melinda says as the pair kiss. “But Tasha’s right, this shouldn’t be the way Skye finds out we’re back together.” Melinda says kissing Coulson once more before standing up.

“You’re right.” Coulson admits. “We’ve got to do this right.” He says.

“We do.” Melinda says as he walks over to Coulson’s private bathroom.

* * *

 

After leaving Natasha and Clint Skye heads down to the Cargo Bay where she sees Ward in the Lab with FitzSimmons.

“Hey, Natasha and Clint said you were looking for me.” Skye says to Ward.

“No I wasn’t.” He responds.

“Really?” Skye asks surprised “Because they said you were looking for me and it seemed important.” Skye explains.

“Well I wasn’t.” Ward comments.

“That’s weird, I wonder why they would tell me that you were looking for me when you weren’t.” Skye comments confused.

“What were you doing when then told you that?” Ward asks curious feeling that maybe it could give them so idea about why Natasha and Clint lied.

“Looking for Mom.” Skye answers “She wasn’t in the cockpit and they said that she was up talking work in Dad’s office.” She explains.

“You know I haven’t seen your parents all morning.” Ward realises.  

“Maybe they’re fighting about something, and Romanoff and Barton didn’t want you to see that.” Fitz suggests.

“Maybe, but what could they be fighting about?” Skye asks.

“You’re Mom and Agent Romanoff did take on twenty heavily armed men last night without the back up of Ward and Barton which they did have on standby. It could be something to do with that.” Simmons suggests.

“Yeah, maybe.” Skye admits. “Oh I have an idea for operation GMADBT.” Skye informs FitzSimmons.

“Operation what?” Ward asks confused.

“GMADBT, Get Mom and Dad Back together.” Skye explain.

“Please don’t tell me that that means exactly what the names suggests.” Ward comments.

“It does.” Skye answers.

“And you two are encouraging her in this?” Ward asks FitzSimmons surprised.

“She made some good points.” Fitz tells him.

“You do realises how much of a bad idea this is right?” He asks.

“It’s actually a great idea, are you in?” Skye asks Ward.

“What? Attempting to try and get Melinda May and Phil Coulson back together without them knowing, no way.” Ward answers.

“Please, we could use your help.” Skye tells him.

“No, I will not help.” Ward tells her “But I will refrain from saying I told you so when this ends badly.” He comments.

“It’s not going to end badly.” Skye tells him.

“So what’s your idea?” Simmons asks curious.

“I’m going to talk to Natasha and Clint.” Skye explains.

“Talk to Natasha and Clint about what?” Clint asks walking into the room as after Natasha came down from downstairs they agreed that he would come down here to keep them all in the lab for as long he could so that Melinda and Coulson have some more time to get ready.

“Helping us get my parents back together.” Skye says simply.

“Interesting goal.” Clint comments trying his best not to be amused by the fact that four of the eight people on the plane are trying to do something that has already happened “And you’re all in on this?” He asks.

“Not me Sir.” Ward comments. “Just them.” He explains.

“Skye I think it’s good that you want your parents back together, but you should let them figure it out on their own.” Clint tells her

“It’s been what? Twenty years since they were divorced? There not exactly smart when it comes to their relationship.” Skye comments.

“You’re right there.” Clint says with a laugh. “But since New York things have changed. They truly lost each other and then thanks to this plane they found each other again. Just give them time Skye. If in two months they haven’t realised what the rest of us see then I will help you.” Clint says knowing that two months gives Melinda and Phil enough time to figure out what is going on between them and tell Skye “Do we have a deal?” He asks

“Yeah, we have a deal.” Skye answers.

“Good.” He answers.

“Why did you and Natasha lie?” Skye asks interested a few minutes later “Ward wasn’t looking for me.” She says.

Before Clint has a chance to come up with a lie Melinda’s voice comes through the ships Coms systems.

“Everyone strap in and Clint get your ass to the cockpit now! I need your help.” Melinda says.

“This can’t be good.” Ward Comments leading FitzSimmons and Skye into the Cargo Bay while Clint runs out of the room.

* * *

 

“What’s going on?” Clint asks as he runs into the cockpit to find Melinda at the stick, Natasha in the co Pilot seat and Coulson sitting behind them.

“Hostiles on our six, Tasha is good, but for this I’m going to need the help of someone great.” Melinda explains as Natasha stands up without word and allows Clint to take her place because she knows that Melinda is right.

“Skye? The others?” Coulson asks.

“Down in the Cargo Bay.” Clint answers “Ward’s with them.”

“I’ll go down there.” Natasha comments knowing that she would do better being down with them instead of up here in the way.

“Hurry Tasha, in about forty seconds it’s going to be very hard to walk without falling.” Melinda comments pressing buttons above her

Natasha nods, “Watch their backs.” She tells Coulson before she goes running out of cockpit.

“Bet you’re wishing right about now that this plane had weapons.” Clint tells Melinda.

“It has crossed my mind.” Melinda comments. “Everyone hold on.” Melinda says through the coms “You ready?” Melinda asks Clint.

“For what?” Clint asks confused “You haven’t actually told me what we are doing.” Clint reminds her.

“What we did over Jakarta.” Melinda answers as she presses a button which will cause everything that could be moved to be locked down.

“In a plane this size? You’re insane.” Clint comments but he still prepares what he has to do.

“Maybe.” Melinda answers “But it’s the only play we’ve got. You up for it?” She asks.

“Of course, there is no way I’m going to let you try to do this without me.” Clint comments “We’ve got to do it now, we’ve got another bogie in front of us.” Clint comments.

“In ten.” Melinda tells Clint.                                            

* * *

 

“What’s going on?” Ward asks Natasha as she jumps down from the platform above the Cargo bay and lands in front of them.

“We’ve got Hostiles on our six.” Natasha answers as she rushes over and straps herself into one of the chairs as Melinda’s voice tells them all to hold on.

“What do we do?” Fitz asks.

“We do nothing, it’s up to Melinda and Clint.” Natasha explains “We’ve got to trust them to get us out of this.” She explains as the whole plane feels as if it’s going upside down.

“I feel sick.” Simmons comments

“Phil? How’s it going?” Natasha asks.

“Two hostiles behind us, one in front, Mel and Clint are taking evasive action.” Coulson explains.

“And so far?” Natasha asks.

“Things could be worse.” Coulson answers.

* * *

 

“Have we got enough clearance?” Clint asks Melinda.        

“Not quite.” Melinda answers “But be ready, the second we do you have to do it.” Melinda answers.

“Ready for what? What are you going to do?” Coulson asks.

“Something that has a possibility of burring out all six engines if we don’t have perfect timing.” Clint answers.

Coulson is worried about Clint’s answer but because he trusts Melinda and Clint completely and because he realises that they don’t need a distraction at the moment he doesn’t say anything.

“Now.” Melinda and Clint suddenly say together.

The plane shos up almost vertically in the air for a while then does a roll and goes in full speed in another direction.

“We’ve got to get below Radar level before they find us again.” Clint comments.

“Already on it.” Melinda comments “Shut down anything non-essential.” She instructs Clint.

“Already on it.” Clint comments “We’re shutting down all no essential power, it’s no need to worry.” Clint says through the coms to the others.

“Any sign?” Clint asks.

“Doesn’t look like it. We’ve got to put her down though.” Melinda comments. “Engines?” She asks knowing that that particular screen is on his side.

“Holding steady below over functioning.” Clint comments. “Probably got about ten minutes before it becomes a problem.

“Find us somewhere.” Melinda instructs.

“Abandoned airport, secluded, and overgrown so it’s not the easiest place to land in but that’s our best option.” Clint says after checking nearby areas.

“I see it.” Melinda answers.

“Vertical landing?” Clint asks.

“It’s quicker and easier.” Melinda answers and the pair land the plane.

“Hanger over there, we’ve got to hide for now.” Clint comments

“Yep.” Melinda answers.

“Any sign of the hostiles?” Coulson asks.

“No, I think we’re in the clear.” Melinda comments.

“Everyone to the command centre.” Coulson instructs as he un bucks his seat belt.

“Nicely Done Mels.” Clint says reaching over and grabbing his friends’ hand, as he attempts to catch his breath.

“You to Clint.” Melinda responds putting her other hand over his as she also attempts to catch her breath.

* * *

 

A couple of minutes later everyone is in the command centre.

“Good Job you two.” Natasha tells Melinda and Clint as they enter the command centre.

“What happened?” Ward asks.

“The senses detected two unknown aircrafts behind us and later another in front, they engaged us, we avoided.” Melinda explains.

“Are we thinking Quinn and the Clairvoyant?” Skye asks.

“It’s the most likely option.” Coulson answers “How long until the engines are good again?”

“Engines, what happened? Is it something I can help with?” Fitz asks.

“No.” Melinda answers “They just need about a twelve hour rest. With what Clint and I had to do to get us away it’s lucky that we didn’t destroy all the engines.” Melinda explains.

“So what do we do?” Simmons asks “Do we contact Mr Stark so that he could contact Director Fury for us?”

“We can’t.” Natasha answers “Stark is still in London. We can’t go back there right now and we can’t contact him any other way right now either.” Natasha explains.

“So we’re on our own.” Skye realises.

“That’s what being of the book is.” Coulson answers. “Until we can get back in the air we’ve just got to stay together.” He tells everyone.

“I need to do an outside check on the plane, make sure there is no damage.” Melinda comments “I could use your help with that.” She tells Fitz.

“Of course.” Fitz answers with a nod and the pilot and rocket scientist leave the command centre.

“The tracker I put on Quinn’s lawyer have we gotten anything?” Natasha asks curious.

“Nothing yet, he’s been at his hotel all morning.” Skye explains putting the tracker up on the big screen.

* * *

 

Far away from the plane at the destination that the team are searching very hard to try and find, Quinn and Rania are on video conference with a darkened impossible to see being.

“I admit that the last night and now this didn’t go as well as we were hoping but we did learn something.” Quinn tells the being.

“And what pray tell is that?” The being asks the voice electronic and impossibly to tell whether it is male or female.

“That Melinda May needs to be dealt with.” Rania answers. “It was her along with Agent Romanoff who managed to deal with all our men last night and it was her flying the plane today, yes she had help from Agent Barton but it was mainly her, and she also has taken down one of our soldiers in the past and destroyed our labs.” Rania answers “If we want to get the keys then we have to get rid of her.” Rania explains.

“No.” The being answers. “I have plans for Melinda May, but you are correct about her being the key to the keys.” The being says before ending the conference leaving a confused Rania and Quinn.

 

 

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	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

After staying at the airfield for twenty four hours instead of just twelve the team head back into the air and they head to Australia, because they realise that after the incident at the party and with the hostile planes they need some time away from Europe.

They have been in the air for three days since they returned and so far it has been without incident. Like normal the team is spread throughout the plane. Coulson, Melinda, Clint and Natasha are up in Coulson’s office while the younger agents are down in the lab.

“We should do a check In with Stark soon, we haven’t seen him since the party and I’m pretty sure that by now Fury would have gotten word about what happened over Switzerland. We’ve got to let them know that we are alright.” Clint comments.

“We’ll look into where he’s meant to be in the next couple of days and figure something out.” Coulson answers.

“You know Skye and FitzSimmons are working on a plan to get you guys back together.” Clint says like it is the most normal thing ever “Give me two.” He tells Natasha who is dealer in the poker game they are currently playing.

“Excuse me?” Melinda asks surprised.

“They’re what?” Coulson asks shocked.

“Trying to get you back together. Ward knows about it but he wanted to make it very clear that he wasn’t involved.” Clint explains.

“How do you know?” Coulson asks still shocked about the fact that his daughter and two of his agents are trying to get him and Melinda back together.

“They wanted my help.” Clint explains.

“Did you know about this?” Melinda asks Natasha.

“Not until Clint told me.” Natasha answers.

“What did you say?” Coulson asks Clint.

“That we should give you two time to figure out what everyone who knows you have known for years, but I did tell Skye that if you haven’t figured it out on your own in two months then I would help her so that’s how long you’ve got to tell her.” Clint informs his friends.

“We’ve been trying to come up with a way to tell her but it’s hard I mean how to do you tell your adult daughter who you’re just getting to know that her parents are back together?” Coulson asks his friends.

“Hey Skye you’re Mom and I are back together, knock before you enter my room.” Natasha suggests causing Clint to burst out laughing.

“I don’t think so Tasha.” Coulson tells her, “I think we need a more delicate way of telling her.”

“Why? That seems like a good way to me.” Clint comments.

“Only you two would think that.” Melinda comments, “We need to think up the right way to tell her.” Melinda informs them.

“You could just try telling me truth.” Skye says from the doorway causing all four of the people in the office to look at her, none of them having realised that she was there, “You know for the four best Agents that S.H.I.E.L.D has you really don’t do a great job when it comes to noticing your surroundings.” She comments.

“Come on Clint, let’s give them a minute.” Natasha says standing up and pulling Clint up as she does.

“Don’t be too hard on them ребенок.” Natasha says quietly to Skye as she walks past.

“How Long?” Skye asks her parents.

“We kissed when you were taken and we heard from Dr. Streiten that you were okay, and then the next day we talked and decided that we wanted to give it another shot.” Coulson explains. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know.” Skye admits honestly “So it’s only been what? Not quite a month?” She asks.

“Yeah.” Melinda answers “Are you mad?” She asks her daughter.

“Yes.” Skye answers.

“But I thought you wanted us back together.” Coulson says confused.

“I do.” Skye answers “I’m not mad that you guys are back together, I’m actually really happy about that. I’m mad that you didn’t tell me and that Clint and Natasha knew before me.” Skye explains “I get that they are your best friends and I know it’s selfish but I would have liked to be the first to know.” Skye explains.

“We didn’t know if we could even work Skye, we didn’t want to tell you until we were sure that it could.” Coulson explains.

“I need some time to think. I’ll talk to you later.” Skye says before leaving her Dad’s office.

* * *

 

After leaving her father’s office Skye heads down to the cargo bay to sit in the back of the car because what she really wants at the moment is some time alone. When she opens the door to the back of the car, she is surprised to see Clint sitting in there.

“How did you know I’d come down here?” Skye asks surprised.

“I figured after you talked to your parents what you would want is to be alone, and here is where you come to be alone.” Clint explains.

“if you knew I wanted to be alone then why are you waiting for me?” Skye asks.

“Because that’s not what you want, not really.” Clint answers “What you want is for someone to care enough to come even if it doesn’t seem like you want them to, to make sure you are okay.” Clint explains.

“How did you know?” Skye asks surprised getting in the car.

“Because for a long time I wanted the same thing.” Clint answers.

 “Why didn’t you tell me?” Skye asks curious “When I asked you if you would help get them back together why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it wasn’t my place.” Clint answers “Just like it isn’t my place to tell them anything you tell me.”

“Really?” Skye asks surprised.

“Really.” Clint answers “It’s part of the whole cool Uncle thing I’ve got going on” He jokes which makes them both smile “Skye I know that the last few months haven’t been easy for you and there may be things that you feel you can’t talk to your Mom and Dad about, but you can tell me and Nat, you can always talk to us, no matter what.” He explains “And unless you’re in danger or hurt or it is something else that they really have to know we won’t tell you parents.” Clint explains “We want you to know that and for you to know that you can trust us, it might not be easy for you but you can.” Clint tells her.

“Thanks, Uncle Clint.” Skye says using the name that she has been calling him in her head for weeks out loud for the first time.

“Any time Kid.” Clint answers. “Do you want my advice?”  

“Sure.” Skye says uncertainly.

“I’ve never seen two people who love each other as much and as truly as your parents, but I’ve also never meet two people as clueless about love as them either. Skye for all of the twenty years I have known them they have been in love, but have been too stubborn and too scared to admit it that they still are. They didn’t keep their relationship from you to hurt you, in fact it was the opposite, they didn’t want you to get hurt.” Clint explains “They had just started to get to know you when they finally got in the right place again to give them a chance, but like I said it’s been twenty years, they didn’t even know it they could work and they didn’t want to risk you getting hurt if they couldn’t. Parents make mistakes Kid but they tend to make them for the right reasons. Was not telling you sooner a mistake, maybe, but they only didn’t tell you so that you wouldn’t get hurt if things didn’t go well.” Clint explains to the young woman.

“I was too hard on them wasn’t I?” Skye asks.

“Maybe a little.” Clint answers, “Go talk to them, I know you want to.” Clint tells her.

“Yeah, maybe I will.” Skye comments as she gets out of the car.

“Oh, and you really should take Nat’s advice and knock before you enter.” Clint advices.

“Thanks, and yuck.” Skye comments before heading upstairs.

* * *

 

Once Skye is upstairs she spots Ward and remembers something she has been wanting to ask him for a few days. “Hey Ward.” She calls

“Yeah?” he asks.

“You speak Russian right?” She asks after making sure Natasha isn’t around.  

“You know I do, why?” He asks confused.

“There’s something I want you to teach me how to say, that’s if it’s okay.” Skye requests.

“Sure, when do you want to start?” Ward asks curious.

“Later, I’ve got to go talk to my parents’ first.” Skye tells Ward “And Thanks.” She says as she climbs the stairs.

* * *

 

When she gets up to the upper level the door to her father’s office is open so she just walks in. When she does she sees her parents sitting next to another holding hands on the couch.

“Skye.” Coulson says surprised seeing her.

“I’m sorry.” Skye says simply, “I was a selfish idiot, but I get it now. For a while I have wanted you guys together and you knew that I blamed myself for your divorce so you didn’t want to risk me getting hurt again if you didn’t work out.” Skye tells her parents “When I heard you talking to Clint and Natasha all I could think was that it’s another secret that I wasn’t going to be told, but it’s not, you were just waiting for the right time. I’m sorry I over reacted.” Skye tells her parents.

“It’s okay.” Melinda says standing up and walking over and hugging Skye.

“We were going to tell you Baby Girl.” Coulson says getting up and walking over to Skye and Melinda, “We were just trying to figure out how to.” Coulson says as he puts his arms around his daughter and the woman that he loves.

* * *

 

 An hour later Melinda has left Coulson’s office to check on things in the cockpit and Skye has gone to find Ward, leaving Coulson alone in his office.  Or at least he is alone until Clint walks in and walks over to the seat across from Coulson where he puts his feet on the table.

“Get your feet of my table Clint.” Coulson comments and Clint does because the only reason he did it in the first place is to annoy Coulson.

“How much do you know about how Melinda was after you died?” Clint asks interested

“For a while all I knew is that Fury came to see her a couple of days after to tell her I was hurt but alive.” Coulson explains knowing that he doesn’t have to be careful about what he says because Natasha filled in Clint about how exactly he is still alive after she found out “But the day before you guys got here I overhead her talking to Skye and found out that you and Natasha told her that I was dead.” Coulson explains wondering why Clint is bringing it up.

“As soon as we could Tasha and I went to Mels, she said that she was waiting for a call from you.” Clint explains “We told her that you had died, but she didn’t believe it. She was positive that you couldn’t be dead because that would be breaking your promise and you don’t break promises, I’m going to want the story behind that by the way.” He informs Coulson.  “Nat sat her down and tried again and Mels still didn’t believe her, but I guess third times a charm. Nat tried one more and she finally believe us.” Clint explains then pauses to take a deep breath, “In twenty years I have never seen Mels break like that.”

“What did she do?” Coulson asks not sure if he wants the answer or not.

“You know how since Bahrain she has been, well a bit self-destructive?” Clint asks trying to put it as delicately as possible.

“Of course.” Coulson answer.

“This is the only time I have ever been worried that she would actually do something.” Clint answers “She drunk two bottles of Scotch in about an hour before I could get rid of the rest of her Alcohol, though she still managed to find more, she took, I don’t know what, she didn’t eat, she didn’t sleep, she destroyed half the things in her apartment, she called you some pretty interesting names and if Nat and I didn’t make sure that we never left her alone I don’t know what she would have done.” Clint explains as in all the years he has known Melinda it was the most worried that he had ever been about her.

“Why are you telling me this?” Coulson asks his voice barely above a whisper as he can picture Melinda doing everything that Clint described, because ever since Bahrain it is what he feared she would one day do.  

“Because you are the only one who can break her like that.” Clint explains “All that happened in two days, but you know what stoped her downwards spiral?”

“No.”

“She was destroying more of her stuff when she got to a picture of you and her holding baby Skye, and she collapsed, scared the crap out of Nat and I when she did that but she was okay in a couple of minutes.” Clint says remembering how scared he was when Melinda collapsed “But more than that one she woke she was a bit more Mels again. I would have thought that seeing picture of the three of you, knowing that she had lost you both would have made things worse but it didn’t, it helped her Phil because I think she realise that she still had something to try and live for and that was finding Skye, the one thing that you both wanted more than anything.” Clint explains “I don’t know if she knows we heard her but she promised you that she would find your daughter.” He explains “My point, the reason that I’m telling you this is because you’re the only person who can break Mels. There is no one else in this universe who can hurt her as much as you can, so don’t. I’ve seen Mels break one and I never want to see that again.” Clint informs him “You’re my best friend, but she’s my sister, hurt her again and you’ll be dealing with Clint Barton the brother instead of Clint Barton the friend, am I clear?” Clint threatens, both knowing that when they refer to each other as their respective best friends their not counting Melinda and Natasha.

“Yeah, you’re clear.” Coulson tells him.

“Good, do you want to continue our game?” Clint asks.

“Sure, you shuffle.” Coulson says handing Clint a deck of cards though as he does he can’t help but think about everything Clint told him.

“So what was the promise that Mels was talking about?” Clint asks curious.

“Die together or not at all.” Coulson answers without hesitation.

“Huh?” Clint asks confused.

“That’s the promise we made it early on in our academy days, we knew the job was dangerous and that it was likely that we would die young so we made that promise, Die together or not at all. It’s morbid and impossible but we said that they only way either of our deaths would be acceptable is if we died on the same mission.” Coulson explains.

“You guys are really morbid.” Clint comments.

“You’re one to talk.” Coulson tells him “Deal.” He tells her friend.

* * *

 

While Clint and Coulson are in Coulson’s office playing cards their partners are in the cockpit.

“Does Phil know that you haven’t been sleeping?” Natasha asks her friend curious.

“If he does he hasn’t said anything.” Melinda comments not even questioning how Natasha knows because she’s Natasha.

“You know if you were anyone else the fact that you haven’t slept for two days would be concerning.” Natasha tells her friend.

“Oh, yeah? How many days is concerning for me?” Melinda asks.

“Absolutely no sleep, then four, if you’re getting a little sleep then a few more.” Natasha answers.

“How did you come up with that?” Melinda asks curious

“It was a long thought out scientific process with Clint and Phil.” Natasha explains.

“Translation, you decided over drinks one night.” Melinda realises.

“Pretty much.” Natasha answers and before either of them can say anymore the door opens and Sky walks in.

“Good, I was hoping you were in here. You haven’t seen me.” Skye says before opening the door to the supply closet which she climbs inside.

Melinda and Natasha look at each other and both wonder what the hell is going on.

“Skye you’re not in danger are you?” Melinda asks.

“No.” Skye answers he voice muffled through the door.

Melinda and Natasha exchange a look and both decide not to question her anymore because they’ve both done odder things and if Skye isn’t in danger then more than likely there is no reason to worry.

Skye has been inside the closet for several minutes when the door opens and Fitz walks in.

“Have you seen Skye?” He asks.

“No.” Melinda and Natasha respond.

“Why are you looking for her Agent Fitz?” Natasha asks interested.

“Because her and Simmons are hiding.” Fitz answers.

“Why?” Melinda asks.

“Because they are evil.” Fitz answers before leaving the cockpit.

After sharing an amused look with Melinda Natasha gets up and walks over to the closet that Skye is hiding in and opens the door and asks “What did you do?”

“Nothing.” Skye says innocently.

“Skye.” Melinda and Natasha say together both knowing that she is lying.

“So Clint may have told me the story of the prank he pulled on you were for like an hour straight you had rubber bands and paper balls and all kinds of other stuff flying around an hitting you so Simmons and I may have updated it and used it on Fitz and Ward.” Skye explains.

“How exactly did you update it?” Melinda asks turning around to face her daughter, remembering the prank that she is talking about and wondering what they could have done to update it.

“Well the four of us have been spending a lot of time down in the lab lately so Simmons and I may have made it so whenever certain items are touched they get propelled up at a ninety degree angle so Ward and Fitz may have been hit in the face with a lot of different things, but it was nothing that would actually hurt them, we made sure of that.” Skye quickly explains.

“Go apologise.” Melinda tells her daughter trying not to laugh.

“Oh come on. I see your face you’re both trying your hardest not to laugh. Plus how is this any different to the pranks that you have pulled?” Skye asks her mother.

“It’s not, and you’re not in trouble, but the last thing we need on this bus at the moment is a prank war, so please go apologise to Fitz and Ward.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Okay.” Skye says as she walks over to the door. 

“Oh Skye.” Natasha says stopping her before she can exit.

“Yeah?” She asks

“Do you have video evidence of what you did?” She asks curious.

“Yeah, I’ll show you later.” Skye tells her before leaving.

Once she does both Natasha and Melinda let go of the laughter that they have been trying to hold it.

* * *

 

A few hours later, when they plane is parked at an airfield outside of Sydney, Natasha is doing a search for where Tony Stark is meant to be when she discovers that his plane with him and Pepper on board will be landing in Australia in the next few hours.

“What the hell is Stark doing in Australia?” Coulson asks when Natasha tells him not likening the coincidence that he just happens to be on his way to where they are.

“As far as I can tell Romantic getaway with Pepper.” Natasha answers.

“In the same place that we just happened to come for safety?” Coulson asks.

“I admit it is odd, but we need to talk to Stark. We need to know if Fury knows anything and we need to let Fury know that we are alright after Switzerland. That could be why Stark is here, Fury could have suggested that he come here on the off chance that we are too. Fury knows us Phil, he knows that after Switzerland we would want to get as far away as possible, Australia is a good choice for that.” Natasha reminds him.

“You’re right Fury needs to know. I’ll go, not you.” Coulson tells her.

“You’re not going by yourself, no way.” Natasha tells her friend.

“I have to, just in case we’re not alone you need to stay on the bus.” Coulson tells her. “You need to protect everyone Tasha.”

“You’re one of the people that we know the Clairvoyant wants.” Natasha reminds him “You need to stay on the bus with Melinda, Clint and Ward. I’ll go alone. It’s the best thing and you know it.”

“I have no way to get you not to go do I?” Coulson asks.

“None.” Natasha answers.

“Fine, just be careful.” Coulson tells her.

“I will.” Natasha assures him.

* * *

 

Four hours later Natasha is waiting in Tony Stark’s hotel room having snuck in without being seen by any person or camera.

“I promise you Pepper, it will be great.” Tony says as he walks in the room “I don’t remember ordering a red haired assassin.” He comments when he sees Natasha.

“Funny Stark, but I really don’t have time for your jokes.” Natasha tells him “Hi Pepper.”

“Yeah so I’ve heard.” He comments “What the hell happened over Switzerland?” He asks interested “Fury looked like he was about to have a breakdown the last time I saw him.”

“Hostiles on our back and on our front, Melinda and Clint had to do the most insane flying they have ever done, something with what they have done in the past isn’t easy to do, just to get us out of there.” Natasha, “Any help you have would be great right about now, does Fury know anymore?”

“Fury, no. Me yes.” Stark answers.

“What do you mean?” Natasha asks confused.

“You and Agent May weren’t the only ones at that party who had ulterior motives. I managed to plant devices that would send me a blind copy of the corresponded of all the people who would most likely to contact Quinn.” Stark explains

“What have you got?” Natasha asks interested

“Not much. So far a lot of it is nothing, but Quinn’s lawyer did get an encrypted email this morning which I couldn’t trace the location on.” He explains.

“What did it say?” Natasha asks.

“Still working on it but I have managed to un encrypt some of it, but I think it’s in code.” Stark says pulling out his phone.

“Why what does it say?”

“The Cavalry is the key, we need to gain control of The Cavalry by whatever means necessary.” Stark says showing her the email and the part he has un encrypted “Does that mean something to you?” He asks noticing that all the colour has drained from Natasha’s face and she looks truly frightened.  

 

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	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

“That means everything to me.” Natasha comments “Stark are you positive that that is what it says?” Natasha asks knowing that someone wanting to take control of her a person never means anything good for that person.

“I’m sure, have a look for yourself.” Stark says handing Natasha his phone “But I’ve got no contexts the rest of the message is still encrypted. What’s going on? Why does that sentence have you so worried?” He asks because a worried Natasha Romanoff isn’t exactly something he’s familiar with.  

“What’s going on is that I need to get back to the bus now, and you both need to come with me.” Natasha comments as at the moment she knows that they need the data from Stark more than they need a go between.

“We’re not going anywhere until you explain what is going on.” Stark tells her “Who’s The Cavalry?” Stark asks.

“Melinda.” Natasha says simply “But If you even think about calling her that I will throw you out of the plane mid-air after making sure there is no possible way for you to call your suit. Do I make myself clear?” She ask.

“Clear.” Stark answers.

“Good, let’s go.” Natasha tells him.

* * *

 

When Natasha arrives back at the plane with Tony and Pepper she finds Melinda waiting in the Cargo Bay. 

“What’s going on?” Melinda asks concerned when she sees that Natasha isn’t alone “Brining them back here wasn’t part of the plan.” Melinda comments.

“The plan’s changed.” Natasha tells her as she runs up the stairs “Where is everyone?”

“Upstairs.” Melinda tells her, “Tasha? What’s wrong?” She asks her friend as Natasha is actually displaying that she is concerned something that doesn’t happen often. “What happened?”

“Something not good Linda, something really not good.” Natasha says calling by the nickname she uses on only the rarest occasions.

“Follow us.” Melinda tells Tony and Pepper. “Leave that down here.” She adds referring to the Iron Man suit that Tony has with him.

“Command Centre now!” Natasha tells the others as she walks pass.

“Oh My God, is that who I think it is?” Skye asks her father shocked.

“Yeah it is, the bigger question is why Tasha would bring them here.” Coulson comments as he exchanges a worried look with Clint because both of them know that whatever reason she has must be the furthers thing from good.

“Give me the phone.” Natasha says to Tony as the others walk into the command centre. “Skye I need you to un encrypt this email.” Natasha says handing the phone over to Skye once Stark hands it to her.

“Oh come on. I haven’t been able to un encrypt this email yet and I’ve had it for an hour.” Stark comments “What makes you think she can?”

“Because she’s good.” Natasha answers simply.

“Thanks тетя Наташа.” Skye says smiling up at her, it being clear that she has only recently learnt what she is saying because it isn’t quite correct but is pretty close to it so Natasha knows what she is trying to say.

“How?” Natasha asks surprised that Skye would learn to say Aunt Natasha in Russian.

“I asked Ward to teach me.” Skye says looking up from the phone but still typing “You call me Child in Russian so I wanted to be able to say Aunt Natasha.” Skye explains and Natasha is lost for words, “Done.” Skye says handing the phone back to Natasha.

“No way.” Tony comments surprised.

“Tasha, do you want to explain what is going on?” Melinda asks her friend concerned about what is going on though glad that Skye does see the people she and Coulson consider family as her family as well.

“The reason Tony was at the party was so that he could plant devices that would send him a blind copy of the corresponded of all the people who would most likely to contact Quinn. Quinn’s lawyer got an email of unknown origin this morning and Stark had managed to un encrypt part of it but not the rest, but the part that he did manage to un encrypt wasn’t good.” Natasha explains.

“Why? What did it say?” Coulson asks.

“The Cavalry is the key, we need to gain control of The Cavalry by whatever means necessary.” Natasha recites looking directly at Melinda as she speaks.

It is so quite in the Command centre that you could hear a pin drop, “As concerning as that may be what about the rest of the email? Golden Girl here managed to decrypt it, so what does it say?” Tony asks.

“Tony Stark just called me Golden Girl.” Skye says completely shocked

“Um, London was a fail, Switzerland was a fail The Clairvoyant isn’t happy. We need the keys but there is something else we need to get them, The Cavalry is the key, we need to gain control of The Cavalry by whatever means necessary. Once we control The Cavalry we can get the keys.” Natasha reads.

“That’s really not good.” Clint says simply what everyone is thinking.

“No it’s not.” Coulson comments.

“That means Mom right? They want to somehow control Mom so that they can get me and Dad, we’re the keys, right?” Skye realises.

“That’s what it seems like.” Natasha comments “Which means we’ve got to get even more off book.”

“How though, how do they want to get control of May?” Ward asks.

“It could be anyone of a hundred ways.” Melinda comments “There are many different strategies that can be used to control a person.” Melinda comments not showing outwards that she is bothered but the three people in the room who know her best know that she is because they know that one of her deepest fears is losing control being forced to do things she doesn’t want to do. 

“What do we do?” Simmons asks.

“Skye do you think you could trace the email?” Clint asks.

“I can try, I can’t guarantee that I will be successful, but I can try.” Skye answers.

“That’s all we can ask.” Melinda tells her daughter. “Why did you bring Stark and Pepper?” Melinda asks Natasha.

“Hey, standing right here.” Tony comments annoyed

“He has the data we need, and I’m thinking we could use some more help right about now.” Natasha comments.

Melinda nods, “We’ve got to move. Wheel’s up in five, everyone strap in.” She instructs and leaves the Command Centre both Coulson and Natasha following her.

“Let Me Phil.” Natasha requests before following Melinda.

“Don’t Phil. Leave it to Nat on this one.” Clint tells his friend stopping him from following Natasha and Melinda. Coulson would like nothing more than to follow Melinda but because he realise that considering what the threat is Natasha is probably a better choice to talk to Melinda than him he doesn’t fight the restraint that Clint has on him and instead he turns to Tony and Pepper needing a distraction, “Welcome to the Bus, This is my daughter Skye and Agents Ward, Fitz and Simmons, Skye, Ward, FitzSimmons this is Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.” Coulson introduces.

“Nice to meet you all.” Tony comments “The lab downstairs that belongs to you two right?” He asks looking at FitzSimmons who nod, “Want to show me what you can do?” He ask the pair.

“Yes Sir.” FitzSimmons respond

“Oh She-Coulson.” Tony says pausing at the door out of the command centre “You’ve got to show me how you did that.” Tony says before following FitzSimmons downstairs and leaving a shocked Skye.

“Pepper.” Coulson greats as Pepper walks up to him.

“Phil.” Pepper greats before punching him in the shoulder “Why didn’t you tell me you were alive? For months I had to think you were dead and Tony blamed himself and why didn’t you tell me that you we’re married? Or that you have a daughter?” Pepper asks “I thought we were friends.”

“We are friends Pepper, I was following director Fury’s orders when I didn’t tell you that I was alive and I don’t talk about my past.” Coulson explains to her.

“Never do that Again.” Pepper says before hugging him. “Now how about you give me a tour of this place.” She tells Coulson.

“Stay with Skye, both of you.” Coulson tells Ward and Clint “And wipe that smile off your face.” He tells Clint as he follows Pepper out of the command centre

“You know I think we win every war we fought if we sent in an Angry Pepper Potts.” Clint comments causing both Skye and Ward to laugh.

(Line break)

Once Natasha enter the cockpit after Melinda she just sits down next to her not saying a word.

“You know there are only three ways that this could end.” Melinda says once the plane is in the air about twenty minutes after Natasha has entered the cockpit.

“I know.” Natasha answers.

“Which means you know what I’m going to ask you.” Melinda tells her.

“We’re not there, not yet.” Natasha tells her.

“Yeah we are, and you know it.” Melinda tells her. “Once we are over Asia I am going to take a parachute and jump.” Melinda reveals to her friend

“You do that and you could be playing directly into the Clairvoyant’s hands.” Natasha tells her friend “For all we know Quinn wanted us to find that email so that you would leave. You and me we took down the men in London, you and Clint kept us in the air over Switzerland, by now the Quinn and The Clairvoyant have had to of realised that to get to Phil or Skye they have to go through you, something that’s not the easiest thing to do. You’re one of the best fighters S.H.I.E.L.D’s got it makes sense that Quinn knows that he has to get you out of the way to do anything. So don’t go Melinda, stay, fight like we always do.” Natasha tells her friend.

“I’ll stay.” Melinda says a few minutes of thinking, “But I’ve still got to ask.” She tells her friend

“I know you do, and my answers the same as it’s always been.” Natasha answers.

“Good.” Melinda answers, “There’s something else I’ve got to ask.” Melinda says as she switches the plan to auto pilot to look directly at her friend “I need you to look after Skye if this goes bad.” She tells her friend.

“It sounds like you’ve already given up.” Natasha comments.

“I’ll fight to the end, just like I always do, you know that, but I would rather die than be used to hurt Phil or Skye or You or Clint or anyone else. If something happens to me then she’s going to need you Tash, just like I’ve needed you all these years.” Melinda tells her friend both of them realising that they are being far more open than they ever are.

“I’ve needed you just as much as you’ve needed me.” Natasha tells her friend neither quite sure why they are being more open than they ever are “You and me and Clint and Phil, we’ve been everything to each other for so long and that will never change, if they want to use you then they have to get past me first. We’ve got to do what we’ve always done Linda, go in and get the job done, that’s what we’re great at. We do what others can’t or won’t and we make it through, we’ve always make it through, even when it looks like we’re not going to, we do. We go in, we kick ass and we survive, and that’s what we will do this time.” Natasha tells her friend.

“Since when did you become an optimist?” Melinda asks her friend surprised.

“I’m not, I’m realist.” Natasha answers “When the four of us work together there is almost nothing we can’t do, we’ve proven that time and time again, and we’ll do it again. So don’t give up on us now Melinda.”

“What is it that Clint used to say, ‘have faith in your team or you’re a goner’, I have faith in us Tash I always have. I won’t give up, but I won’t let them use me to hurt any of you either and if it comes down to it then you can’t let me.” Melinda tells her friend.

“You know I won’t.” Natasha tells her friend

“We starting to sound like Coulson.” Melinda realises several minutes later.

“We really are.” Natasha confirms and the pair exchange a sad smile.

“Can everyone come to the Command Centre, I think I’ve found Quinn.” Skye’s voice says through the coms system a while later

* * *

 

When Melinda and Natasha arrive in the command centre everyone else is already there. When he sees them entre Coulson walks right up to Melinda and kisses her feeling that because Skye now knows there is no reason to keep it hidden.

“Uh guys like I said really happy you’re back together, but I really don’t want to see that.” Skye comments causing Melinda and Coulson to break apart.

“Right, what have you got?” Coulson asks his daughter neither he nor Melinda offering any explanation about what they just did.

“I traced the email.” Skye begins to explain but Stark interrupts her.

“How did you manage that?” he asks curious

”I can show you exactly how I did it once I explain what I found.” Skye tells him.

“I’d like that.” Stark responds.

“Go on Skye.” Clint tells her.

“Whoever sent the email pulled out all the stops when it came to trying to hide their location but I managed to find it. It was Quinn who sent this email and he did so from an estate in Italy.” Skye explains.

“We break radio silence now right?” Ward asks “Call Director Fury and send in a strike team.” He suggests.

“We can’t.” Natasha says voicing what all the senior agents in the room are thinking, “We can’t risk anyone else finding out. The second we attempt to contact Director Fury or anyone else we risk Quinn finding out we are on to him. We’ve got to go in alone.” She tells everyone.

“There are currently six of us on this plane who are trained or can take part in any combat, and four who cant. How are we going to storm a compound with those numbers?” Ward asks.

“You’re assuming that Stark is going to agree to help us.” Natasha comments.

“I am, but thanks for signalling me out.” Tony comments.

“Give Coulson and me an hour.” Clint comments “We’ll figure something out.” He says knowing that they are the two best people when it comes to missions plans. “Your office?” He asks and Coulson nods.

“Set a course for Italy but not anywhere near Quinn’s compound. Skye send everything you’ve got on the location through to my tablet.” Coulson instructs and Melinda and Skye nod. 

“Actually Stark, come with us. We could actually use you’re help as well.” Clint comments and he and Coulson leave the command centre.

“Is this how things are usually on this plane?” Stark asks interested.

“Usually there is more pranks, drinking, or people threatening to kill each other, but yeah this how it is.” Skye informs him.

“Sounds like my kind of place.” Stark comments before leaving the Command Centre and following Coulson and Clint upstairs.

* * *

 

 “What do you mean we’ve lost contact with Stark?” Fury asks Hill angrily.

“He and Pepper showed up at their hotel and then ten minutes later they went off the grid.” Hill explains.

“How is that even possible?” Fury asks “First Switzerland now this, what is going on out there?” He asks as Hill continues to work on something on her computer.

“Sir, I’ve got something.” She tells Fury.

Fury walks over to Hill and Hill presses play. One the screen Tony Stark and Pepper Potts being lead out of the hotel by Natasha Romanoff

“Why would she take them a way that was covered by security cameras?” Fury asks surprised as it goes against everything Natasha does to do that.

“I believe she did that so we would find it Sir. There is no footage of her going into the building and none of them are on any other cameras but this one. I believe it was her way of telling us that she is and the others are alight and that for some reason Stark has joined them off book.” Hill explains as it is what makes the most sense.

“We need answers.” Fury comments as he really hates being the one who doesn’t know what is going on for once.

* * *

 

An hour after Clint, Coulson and Stark went upstairs they are back in the Command Centre with everyone.

“There are three major entrances into Quinn property, there is the front, the back, and the basement entry. We will go in in three teams at once.” Clint explains.

“Melinda, Natasha you two will take the basement entrance. Clint and I will take the back and Stark and Ward you’ve got the front, but Stark once you are sure that Ward has got things under control do a premiere search and make sure that there isn’t going to be any surprises.” Coulson explains and Stark, Ward, Melinda and Natasha nod.

“What about Me?” Skye asks “And Fitz and Simmons and Pepper? What do we do while you are invading Quinn’s compound?” Skye asks.

“Tony, want to explain your idea?” Clint asks.

“Sure. Once we are parked at an airfield around an hour away from Quinn’s compound you four will get on one of my private jets that will take you directly to the tower where Bruce and Steve will be waiting confused about what is going on.”

“No.” Skye answers “I’m not going to be sent halfway around the word while you all go and do something dangerous, not when there is a possibility that one of you could be hurt or could need my help, no.” Skye answers.

“Neither am I.” Pepper says and FitzSimmons nod in agreement.

“You can’t come with us.” Ward tells them “It’s too dangerous.”

“I get that I do, but I won’t be sent half way across the world.” Skye tells him. “I won’t.” Skye says looking directly at her parents who recognize the tone of voice and the look on her face as the same one she had when she said she would jump out of the plane if they didn’t help her.

“What about lock down on the plane again.” Simmons suggests “We could all be armed just in case and then we’re close enough that we can help if something goes wrong and out of the way at the same time.” She suggests.

“And you can leave one of your fancy body guards with us if that’s what you want.” Skye tells Stark, “But we’re not being sent away.”

“Where’s Happy at the moment?” Stark asks Pepper curious.

“Still in London, exactly where we left him.” Pepper answers.

“If you’re thinking about calling this guy whoever he is and getting him to meet you in Italy then don’t. We can’t risk Quinn fining out.” Ward tells Stark

“Then what do you suggest?” Stark asks, “You heard them, they’re not going anywhere.”

“How about we go to the house with you but stay out in the van, like Simmons suggested we could be armed but not directly go in with you. If one you get hurt then you are going to need us.” Fitz suggest.

“And if thing go wrong you’ll be directly in the line of danger.” Ward argues.

“Anyone else notice that the four big guns aren’t speaking?” Tony asks looking at Coulson, May, Clint and Natasha, “What are your thoughts on all of this?” Stark asks them as he has noticed that they have been suspiciously quite.

“Some valid points are being made.” Coulson comments “Clint put the satellite image of Quinn’s compound and the area up.” Coulson requests.

“What are you thinking Boss?” Clint asks after putting the image on the big screen and walking over to stand next to Coulson, Melinda and Natasha on his other side

“Mel where is the nearest place to the compound that you can land the plane?” Coulson asks

“Here, but they’ll know we’re coming then.” Melinda tells him pointing to the location.

“They could already know.” Ward points out.

“Be quite Boy-Toy the grownups are talking now.” Stark comments to Ward’s annoyance. “Seeing as how they won’t go what do you think is best?” Stark ask Coulson, Melinda, Clint and Natasha.  

“We land the plane near the compound. You four stay inside on lockdown.” Coulson tells Skye, Fitz, Simmons and Pepper, “All of you will have Night Night pistols.” He tells the four “And when you are doing you’re perimeter check you also do a check of the plane, and make sure no one isn’t anywhere near them.” Coulson tells Stark.

“If we’re going to land close to the compound then you have to be ready to go.” Clint tells Natasha, Coulson, Stark and Ward “After Mels and I land the plane we can be down in the Cargo hold within a minute, and we all have to be ready to go as soon as we are. They will know we are coming now so we have to be quick.”

“How long until we arrive?” Coulson asks Melinda.

“About fifteen hours.” Melinda answers.

“Everyone get some rest.” Coulson orders “You’re going to need it.”

“Yes Sir.” Ward says and he quickly exits the command centre followed by FitzSimmons as he really doesn’t want to have to spend any more time with Stark than necessary.

“Please tell me Ward has gotten to shooting accuracy in your training.” Clint tells Skye walking over to her

“He has.” Skye assures him.

“Good, then come downstairs I want to see just what he’s been teaching you.” Clint tells his niece.

“Aren’t you meant to be resting Uncle Clint?” Skye asks.

“I don’t need it.” Clint tells her “Making sure you can accurately hit a target on the other hand is something I do need, especially considering you have one hand in plaster.” He tells her.

“You don’t mind do you?” He asks Coulson and Melinda.

“It would make me feel much better if you did.” Melinda tells him and Coulson nods as while they know that Ward is good, Clint is the best marksmen in the world and a lesson from him will be very very good for Skye.

“Nat you want to join?” Clint asks.

“Of course.” Natasha responds and the three leave the command Centre leaving just Coulson, Melinda, Tony and Pepper.

Before any of them can say anymore Skye comes running back into the command centre and hugs her mother “We’ll be okay, none of us will let anyone hurt you.” Skye tells her.

“Thanks Skye.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Love you Mom.” Skye says before racing out of the command centre.

“I meant you too.” Coulson says walking over to Melinda.

“What?” She asks confused.

“You need rest as well Mel.” Coulson tells her.

“So you’ve noticed, huh?” Melinda asks

“Kind of hard not to.” Coulson responds. “Come on.” Coulson tells her grabbing her hand “Can I trust you not to destroy anything?” He asks Tony.

“I’ll keep an eye on him.” Pepper assures.

“Thanks Pepper.” Coulson tells her and he and Melinda exit the command centre and head upstairs. Once they are upstairs Melinda and Coulson lay down in the bed and Coulson pulls Melinda in close to him and holds Melinda close in his arms neither allowing themselves to think of what the next day will bring. 

* * *

 

“Skye, what’s wrong?” Natasha asks Skye concerned as Clint sets up targets.

“Is this my fault?” She asks her Aunt “Do the Clairvoyant and Quinn want Mom because of me?”

“No.” Natasha says walking over to Skye who is sitting on the stairs and kneeling in front of her, “I’ve read everything that you’re Dad has on the Clairvoyant, I know that they controlled Akela Amador with the eye tec. I’ve never worked with Akela but I knew her reputation. She is one of the best female S.H.I.E.L.D agents there is behind Me, your Mother, and Agent Hill of course, so it’s clear that the Clairvoyant wants the best, which makes sense, but my point Is the is a hundred reasons why the Clairvoyant could want Melinda and the fact that she’s your mother is only a few of them. Melinda is the best and the Clairvoyant has made it clear that he wants the best so it’s not your fault, it’s only theirs.” Natasha tells her.

Skye nods but still wonders if it is her fault.

“Come on Kid, let’s see if Ward has been teaching or flirting.” Clint jokes.

“You’ve really got to stop that, Ward doesn’t flirt.” Skye tells her Uncle standing up.

“You really have inherited both of your parents’ cluelessness, he attempts to flirt with you all the time.” Clint tells Skye.

“No, I would have noticed if he did.” Skye tells Clint not believing what he is saying.

 “Whatever you say Kid.” Clint tells her with a smirk. “Okay so we’re going to be using Fitz’s paintball gun.” Clint explains to Skye once she is standing next to him.

“Wait. Fitz has a paintball gun. How do I not know this?” Skye asks surprised.

“He keeps it hidden from you, Simmons, and Ward, he doesn’t even know that we know he has it.” Natasha explains.

“Okay, I will so be getting him back for this later.” Skye comments. “Why are we using a paintball gun?” She asks confused.

“Because it is the same weight as the Night Night pistols and you can pull the trigger without the danger of anyone or anything getting hurt. Though if you hit Lola you are on your own, I mean that literally because I will be out of that ramp with a parachute so fast.” Clint tells Skye and it’s hard to tell whether he is joking or not.

“I won’t be on my own, I’ll be out of this plane right behind you.” Skye informs Clint.

“How about we just aim in the opposite direction then none of us have to worry about doing any damage to Phil’s obsession.” Natasha comments.

“Sounds good.” Clint says, “Here’s the gun, there’s the target, show me what you’ve got.”  Clint says handing the gun over to Skye and pointing to the target he has set up.

* * *

 

Fourteen hours later everyone with the exception of Coulson and Melinda are up in the Command Centre.

“Someone has to go and wake them.” Ward comments.

“And no one is stopping you, go.” Skye tells them.

“Me? No way. You go.” Ward tells her.

“Not a chance.” Skye answers “тетя Наташа told me to knock before I enter any room with them in it. I’m not going up there.” Skye says once more attempting to speak Russian and not doing an amazing job at it.

“You know if you want to you can just call me Aunt Natasha in English.” Natasha tells Skye.

“I know, I want to say it in Russian though, it’s more fitting.” Skye tells her Aunt.

“As touching as that is and honestly who knew that Natasha Romanoff had a human side but that doesn’t change the fact that someone has to go up there and get them.” Tony comments.

“Well Natasha and I are out, we’ve already walked in on them once so we shouldn’t have to do it again.” Clint comments.

“They’ve been divorced the whole time you’ve known them.” Ward comments.

“True, but they have been together for the last month.” Clint tells him.

“Agh UNCLE CLINT! I DID NOT WANT TO KNOW THAT.” Skye tells him looking traumatised.

“Sorry Kid.” Clint tells her with a laugh.  

“You are all ridiculous.” Natasha says getting up and walking out of the command centre.

A minute later Natasha returns “They were just asleep.” She informs everyone and a minute later Coulson and Melinda enter.

“So let’s go over this one more time.” Coulson comments standing by the screen. “Clint want to start us off.”

“Sure.” Clint says walking over to the other side “Because we know that Quinn is good with technology we have to go in without coms it will be too risky for us to have them.” He tells everyone “Once we are parked we head north though a small grouping of trees. Once we reach the edge we fan out. Coulson and I will enter through the back and I will take out as many of the outside guards as I can as we do. Natasha, Melinda you guys head through the basement, your goal is Quinn, find him and Rania and if possible the Clairvoyant. Ward and Stark you head through the front, deal with as many of the men as possible then Ward you’re on your own. Stark maintain the perimeter and make sure no one goes near the plane. Ward you have to help whoever needs it.” Clint explains “Everyone clear?” He asks and the others nod.

“Good, get ready everyone.” He instructs.

Knowing that soon her parents have to go to the Cockpit and Cargo Bay respectively and she won’t see them again until they get back from their mission Skye walks over to them both, “You better be careful.” She tells them.

“We always are.” Melinda assures her daughter.

“And you guys better watch their backs.” She tells Natasha and Clint.

“You never have to ask that Kid, it hardwired into us.” Clint responds.

“Good.” Skye tells them.

“You be careful to.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“I’ll be fine, I’ll be safely on the plane.” Skye tells her parents “I love you guys.” She says pulling them both into a hug.

“We love you to.” Coulson tells her neither he nor Melinda being able to describe how good it feels or how much it means to them to hear their daughter say that.

“Ah, Family hug.” Clint says a couple of minutes later putting his arms around the four and pulling Natasha In so that she has no choice but to do the same which makes them all laugh.

“You’re an idiot.” Natasha tells Clint though she does have a smile on her face.

“Come on Mels, we’ve got to get this bird down.” Clint tells her. 

“That we do.” Melinda comments and the pair leave the command centre.

“Stark, Ward, Tasha, we better go get ready.” Coulson comments then turns to the others “Lockdown as soon as we’re gone.” He tells them and Skye, FitzSimmons and Pepper nod.

“We’ve got to collect the Night Night guns first.” Skye say and she follows the others down to the Cargo Hold.

* * *

 

Half an hour later, Skye, FitzSimmons and Pepper are in the command Centre. Natasha, Coulson, Ward and Stark are down in the cargo bay and Melinda and Clint are landing the plane. Everyone feels the plane land then seconds later they see Melinda and Clint run pass them.

“Fitz?” Skye asks.

“Camera’s on.” He tells them and all four of them turn to the screen which is showing a camera feed to down in the cargo bay where they see Melinda and Clint arrive by jumping down from the platform instead of using the stairs, something that people have been doing a lot lately, and collect weapons from Natasha and Coulson and then they all leave the Cargo Bay.

“Closing Cargo Bay ramp.” Simmons comments as the last person is off the ramp.

“Starting lock down.” Fitz Comments as he switches the camera to an outside view so that they can see anyone approaching the Cargo bay.

“It’s up to them now.” Skye comments as she takes a seat on one of the chairs at the back of the Command Centre, making sure that she has the Night Night Gun in her hand as she does.

* * *

 

Half an hour after Stark, Ward, Clint, Natasha, Melinda and Coulson leave the plan, Skye, FitzSimmons and Pepper are in the command centre like the have been the whole time when Skye gets a feeling she can’t explain and falls off her chair.

“Skye, what’s wrong?” Simmons asks concerned as her and Fitz race to her side.

“Something’s wrong.” Skye tells her friends “Something’s happened to Mom.” She tells them not knowing how she knows but knowing anyway.

“What do you mean something’s happened to your Mom?” Pepper asks worried and confused.

“I don’t know, I can’t explain it all I know is that something is wrong.” Skye says racing to the table and undoing the lockdown.

“Skye calm down.” Simmons says once again rushing to her friend’s side, “Why do you think something’s wrong with your Mother?”

“I can’t explains it, I just know.” Skye says racing out of the Command centre once the lockdown has been lifted, FitzSimmons and Pepper right behind her “Maybe it’s whatever the Clairvoyant did to me when I was a baby, I don’t know. All I know is something has happened to Mom and she needs help.” Skye says as she runs downs the stairs.

“Skye you can’t go after them.” Fitz tells her.

“I have to.” Skye says as she lowers the cargo bay ramp and grabs the spare key to Lola, still having the Night Night Pistol in her hand. “She needs me.” Skye says as she gets in the driver’s side of Lola. “What are you doing?” Skye asks Simmons surprised as she gets in the passenger seat.

“You’re not going alone. I’m not saying that I believe you, but if something really is wrong with your Mum then you need me.” Simmons tells her friend.

Skye nods “Have the medical area ready just in case.” Skye tells Fitz as she starts the car then looking down at all the controls she presses the one that she remembers makes the car Fly and she speeds out of the Cargo Bay.

 

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	29. Chapter 29

 Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** Thank you so much for everyone who reads this story. There are more notes at the bottom so read them one you finish this chapter.

* * *

 

After they leave the Bus, Stark, Clint, Coulson, Melinda, Natasha and Ward through trees for about fifteen minutes.

“Time to fan out. Good luck.” Clint says and He and Coulson continue to go straight while Melinda and Natasha goes off to the left and Ward and Stark go to the right. Coulson and Clint watch Melinda and Natasha as they go.

“You ready for this?” Clint ask his friend once Melinda and Natasha are no longer in sight.

“I’m ready for this to be over.” Coulson responds and the pair kneel down at the edge of the trees because they have to wait five minutes before they do anything because that is what they agreed on.

“Well hopefully within an hour it will be.” Clint tells Coulson as that is the estimated completion time for the mission.

“Hopefully.”

* * *

 

After splitting away from the others Natasha and Melinda head to where they know they will be able to enter the basement.

“Time?” Natasha asks Melinda.

“Two minutes, thirty seconds.” Melinda answers “I see one outside guard and no sign of any others, you?”

“The same. It doesn’t look like there are any more outside.” Natasha tells her “Inside is another matter.” She reminds Melinda.

For the next two minutes and thirty seconds they wait silently “Now.” Melinda tells Natasha who throws her widow’s bite at the one guard.

Once the guard is incapacitated Melinda and Natasha run past him and into the basement entrance. As soon as they enter they find two guards waiting for them which they take down before they can ever react.

“You know you could have just brought a gun with you.” Natasha tells Melinda who picked up the gun that one of the guards dropped.

“There was no point, I knew I could take one.” Melinda tells her friend.

“Only you.” Natasha tells her friend “I’d say they knew we were coming.” Natasha comments spotting the six guards that are walking down the other end of the hallway.

“It’s fitting, when have we ever done things the easy way?” Melinda ask and the two friends attack and manage to incapacitate the guards.

Once the guards are dealt with they continue to move through the basement, “Agent May.” A familiar voice says.

“Mike?” Melinda asks shocked.

“You know this guy?” Natasha asks her friend surprised when Mike walks out of the shadows clearly badly burnt with a metal leg.

“Yeah.” Melinda tells her friend “Mike what happened to you? We thought you died.” Melinda tells him.

“I wish I did.” Mike tells Melinda, “I wish I wasn’t this.” He tells her.

“Where’s Quinn? We’re here to stop him.” Melinda tells him.

“I know, and my orders are to stop you.” Mike reveals.

“You’ve got the eye tec, the failsafe.” Melinda realises.

“I’m sorry.” Mike responds. “If there was any other way, I would but there’s not. I’m sorry.” He tells her.

“I know.” Melinda tells him. “And I’m sorry for what we have to do.” Melinda tells him.

Without another word from either side Mike attacks. Natasha and Melinda were both expecting it so they manage to avoid it and Natasha manages to get in a shot with her Widow Bites, but it only slows him down for a second. Even though it’s two against one Mike has the advantage due to his strength but Melinda and Natasha don’t let that faze them and they manage to put a pretty good fight. They just keep fighting. More than once it seems like one of them is going to go down but the other steps in and prevents it from happening. They are busy fighting that they don’t notice a figure at the end of the hallway who throws something down that renders all three of them unconscious.

* * *

 

A few minutes later Melinda and Natasha wake up in a different part of the basement but they think that no time has passed.

“Tasha?” Melinda asks when she realises that she is no longer mid fight, looking at the person who is hanging from the roof next to her “What’s going on?”

“No idea.” Natasha responds clearly also just woken up “But let’s get out of here.” She says using the device on her bracelet to cut through Melinda’s ropes then her own.

“Huh, you _really_ shouldn’t be awake yet.” Quinn comments surprised walking in the door just as Natasha gets herself free.

“Yeah well, you should do you’re research. We always do what we shouldn’t.” Natasha tells Quinn.

“I know.” Quinn tells her drawing a gun, but before he can say anymore both Natasha and Melinda attack, knocking him unconscious before he has a chance to do anything, but just as they do they hear four gun shots, Melinda goes down and Natasha feels a pain in her side.

“My orders weren’t to hurt her, but oh well, I’m sure I’ll be forgiven. Luckily I can’t say the same for you.” Rania says walking towards Natasha but before she can do anymore Natasha has picked up the gun that Quinn attempted to use and fired back killing her with a head shot.

“Melinda!” Natasha says racing to her friends’ side.

“No need to be so worried, she’s a bad shot.” Melinda assures her friend though it is clear that she is having difficulty speaking.

“Yeah I see that.” Natasha comments knowing that it’s not true as Rania has shot Melinda once in the stomach, once in the lower chest and once in the shoulder.

“I’ve survived worse.” Melinda assures her friend.

“You’ve got to stay with me Linda, okay. Stay with me.” Natasha tells her friend as she rips Quinn’s shirt and begins to hold pressure on the wounds.

“COULSON, CLINT GET DOWN HERE NOW!” Natasha Yells as loud as she can hoping that they hear her.

“Just, hold on Linda, keep fighting, just like we always do.” Natasha tells her friend as Melinda’s eyes drift closed.

* * *

 

After leaving the plane Skye flew Lola in the direction that she knows the team is went in. She knows that if she was asked how she knew she would never be able to explain it all she knows is that something has happened to her mother.

“Do you even know how to fly this thing?” Simmons asks Skye clearly afraid as she flies them through the trees narrowly missing them.

“I’ve watched Dad.” Skye responds.

“So that’s a no then.” Simmons realises clutching the side of the car as she comes to the realisation that Skye driving with one hand in plaster probably isn’t helping matters, “Explain it again, how do you know something’s happened to your mother?” Simmons asks her friend.

“I can’t, I just know.” Skye explains “It’s kind of like when I’m hacking something and I just know what to do. I just know that something’s happened to her, I don’t know what or how I know, I just do.” Skye explains.

“What the hell are you doing?” Stark asks shocked flying next to the car.

“Something’s happened to Mom.” Skye responds.

“How do you know? None of us are on Coms.” Stark tells her.

“I can’t explain it, I just know.” Skye says as she lands the car outside the front of the place and runs inside, Simmons and Stark right behind her.

“Skye what are you doing here?” Ward asks confused.

“Where’s my Mom?” Skye asks him.

“What?” He asks Confused. “You can’t be here.” He tells her.

“Agh! You’re no help.” Skye tells him. “Please work.” She says to herself as she closes her eyes and focuses on that knowing feeling she has and hopes it will somehow tell her what she needs to know. “Downstairs.” She realises and she runs downstairs, Simmons and Stark right behind her.

(Line break)

Skye follows that knowing feeling that she has and it leads her to a room in the basement “MOM.” She yells as she runs in and sees Natasha on one side of her mother and her Dad on the other, both of them trying to slow the bleeding. As soon as she runs in Clint grabs hold of her stopping her from going to her mother’s side.

“Move.” Simmons tells Coulson as she kneels down next to her “What happened?” She asks Natasha knowing that because Natasha was partnered with Melinda she would know.

“She was shot by a woman in a flower dress, never did get a name” Natasha answers “What are you doing here?” She asks.

“Skye knew something had happened.” Simmons answers.

“Simmons? Is she going to be okay?” Coulson asks.

“I need equipment.” Simmons tells him.

“She’s stopped breathing.” Natasha realises and she and Simmons get started on CPR.

“NO.” Skye says managing to somehow break free of Clint’s hold on her. “No, no. Mom come on!” Skye says as tears begin to roll down her face. “You’re not allowed to die, come on.” Skye tells her and Natasha and Simmons continue to do CPR.

“There’s not enough blood to circulate.” Simmons realises stopping the CPR.  

“NO MELINDA NO.” Coulson yells “DON’T DO THIS TO ME, COME ON MEL.” He yells his voice more broken than anyone in the room has ever heard it.

“Phil, Skye.” Clint says kneeling down next to his best friend and Niece, his voice barely above and whisper and sounding like every syllable is causing her pain.

“No I told you, no.” Skye says “She can’t die. MOM COME ON PLEASE.” She begs.

“Skye.” Clint tells her it being perfectly clear that he is doing his best to keep his voice steady.

“NO.” Skye repeats “YOU.CAN.NOT.DIE.” She tells her mother and she places her plastered hand on her mother’s chest and everyone sees what looks like a beam of blue-white light go from Skye to Melinda.

“She’s breathing.” Natasha says shocked a second later, thirty seconds after Melinda stopped breathing.

“That’s not possible, she’s lost almost all of her blood volume.” Simmons says shocked and then checking and seeing that Natasha right Melinda’s heart is beating and she is breathing but she still has all of her wounds.

“Skye?” Coulson asks his daughter shocked.

“She’ll be okay if you can get her help within the next four hours, I can’t keep it up for longer than that.” Skye tells Simmons having no idea how she knows what she is saying “Sleep time.” She says before collapsing.

“SKYE!” Coulson yells concerned.

“She’s fine, she just collapsed.” Clint assures Coulson after checking Skye. “What the hell just happened?” he asks completely shocked

“I think we would all like to know that.” Stark comments sounding just as shocked.

“It’s going to have to wait until we get back to the bus. They need to get back there.” Coulson says looking between his daughter and the woman he loves.

“I can take Melinda and Simmons back in seconds.” Stark offers.

“Do it.” Coulson tells him.

“You’re cars outside, Skye left the keys in it.” Simmons tells Coulson.

“I’ll take Skye back in her.” Coulson comments.

“Everything is secure upstairs.” Ward says not realising what he is walking into “What happened?” Ward asks noticing Melinda and Skye on the ground and everyone in the room looking like they have been crying and completely shocked.  

“Not now Ward.” Coulson tells him.

“We take Quinn with us, everyone else can be held until we can get a S.H.I.E.L.D team out here.” Clint orders stepping into the role of leader to keep from falling apart, “Ward take Quinn to the bus.” He orders.

“Agent Ward.” Clint repeats because the specialist hasn’t looked away from Skye. “We think she will be okay but we need to get her back to the bus to know for sure. We need you to secure Quinn, that’s what you can do to help her.” Clint tells the younger agent.

“Yes sir.” Ward comments as Stark carefully picks up Melinda.

“Be careful Stark.” Coulson tells him and he nods in responds.

“Hold on to my arm and don’t let go.” Stark tells Simmons

“Oh, Baby Girl, what did you do?” Coulson asks picking up Skye as Stark flies out of the room.

“You got her?” Natasha asks.

“Yeah, I’ve got her.” Coulson responds as he notices the blood on Natasha’s shirt that didn’t come from Melinda. “You got hit.” He realises.

“It’s nothing.” Natasha assures him and Clint who is looking at her worriedly “I’m sorry Phil. We had just taken down Quinn when she fired, neither of us could react.”

“It’s not your fault Tash.” Coulson assures his friend “Melinda wouldn’t want you to blame yourself, and neither do I.” He tells her and the three friends, Skye in Coulson’s arms, leave the basement.

* * *

 

Half an hour later everyone is on the bus and Clint has gotten them in the air. Skye and Melinda are laying on the tables while Natasha is sitting on one of the benches being stitched up by Clint as she refused to let Simmons treat her because she didn’t want to take Simmons’s focus away from Skye and Melinda who need her more.

“Simmons what do you know?” Coulson asks from his position standing between Melinda and Skye.

“Agent May shouldn’t be alive Sir, but somehow her brain is still functioning, her heart is still beating, she is breathing and her organs aren’t receiving any more damage. It is almost like just her injuries are frozen and the rest of her is acting though its fine and having no problem doing so.” Simmons explains.

“How’s that possible?” Ward asks confused.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen or read anything like it. I don’t even know what could have caused it.” Simmons explains “Whatever Skye did is keeping Agent May alive.” She explains.

“What about Skye?” Why did she collapse?” Coulson asks concerned.

“Skye’s is fine.” Simmons assures the worried father “I check all her vitals and they are perfect, and because I wanted to be sure everything was fine I ran a scan on her brain which is very interesting.” Simmons reveals.

“What do you mean?” Natasha asks jumping down from the counter she is sitting on because Clint has finished stitching her up.

“The electrical activity In Skye’s brain is off the charts.” Fitz explains.

“How is that possible?” Clint asks.

“It shouldn’t be.” Stark comments “If a person’s electrical activity in their brain is too high then it should kill them, it would be like getting struck by lightning constantly.” He explains.

“So how is Skye okay?” Coulson asks. “And do you think that is how she brought Melinda back?” he ask.

“It’s possible Sir, but I really don’t know.” Simmons answers. “But I believe that to prevent too many questions being asked wherever we’re taking Agent May we should give her blood.”

“Will that affect whatever it is that Skye is doing?” Coulson asks.

“I don’t know, but I do not believe so.” Simmons answers hating that she has no straight answers.

“Where did you program the course for?” Coulson asks Clint.

“Agent Hill’s base, it’s the closest with the kind of medical facilities we will need” Clint answers.

“How long?”

“From now about an hour and a half.”

“Skye said we had four to get Melinda to help.” Natasha remembers.

“Which is why we should give her blood, is anyone here the same blood type?” Simmons asks looking at Coulson, Natasha and Clint as she is positive that they would know.

“I am.” Clint answers as soon as Simmons finishes the question because after twenty years and many missions he knows that without even having to think about it.

“I’ll set it up.” Simmons says

“Let me.” Natasha says walking over to Simmons being able to tell that the young girl is barely hanging on, “Take a minute.” She tells her. “You’ve done well today.”

Simmons nods and exits the Lab, Fitz right behind her.

As Natasha sets up Clint for a blood transfusion Ward leaves the lab and Tony follows to make sure in his own way that he is okay and Pepper leaves to do the same for Tony.

Looking away from Melinda and Skye for the first time Coulson walks over to Natasha and Clint because he knows that there is a conversation that needs to happen before they get to Hill’s base, “What do I tell Fury about what Skye did?” Coulson asks his family as he isn’t in any state of mind to make the decision by himself at the moment.

“Nothing.” Natasha answers without hesitation, “You tell him nothing. We don’t know what Skye did, and we don’t know how she did it but you know that S.H.I.E.L.D will want to know. It doesn’t matter how she did what she did, it doesn’t change anything, she is till your daughter and our Niece, and we can’t let her be used as S.H.I.E.L.D’s latest experiment.” Natasha tells Coulson “Fury moved heaven and earth to bring you back, if he found out at a person, that Skye could do that, who knows what he would do to be able to have control of that power. We tell him nothing, we just say that Melinda wasn’t in that bad off a condition but she has gotten worse.” Natasha tells her friend as she connects the tubing that will take blood from Clint to Melinda.

“Clint?” Coulson asks agreeing with everything that Natasha said but wanting to hear Clint’s opinion to.

“Nat’s right.” Clint answers “I know you trust the system and I respect that, but trusting the system on this could risk Skye. No one can know what she did, because S.H.I.E.L.D will want to use someone like her and you know it. Because of who she is maybe Fury won’t want to do anything.” He says stressing the maybe, “But the council won’t care, they will want to know. We keep it to ourselves and we tell everyone on this plane to keep it to their selves. If Skye wants to know more about her power and what she can do then we help her, not S.H.I.E.LD, us.” He tells Coulson.

“I though the same thing, but I couldn’t trust myself at the moment.” Coulson comments once more looking at Melinda and Skye. “She died.” He says in a quiet voice.

“I know.” Natasha says walking over to her friend and grabbing his hand.

“Dad?” Skye’s voice says before Natasha can say anymore.

“Skye.” Natasha and Coulson say racing to Skye’s side, Clint would have done the same but he is currently connected to Melinda so he is unable to.

“Careful.” Coulson tells her as she attempts to sit up “SIMMONS.” Coulson yells.

“Ouch Dad. No yelling please, I’ve already got a headache.” Skye tells her father.

“Sorry, are you alright?” Coulson asks concerned.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I feel week but I know that that’s how it’s meant to be.” Skye answers.

“How do you know that?” Natasha asks.

“I don’t know, I just do.” Skye answers as Simmons and Fitz come back in.

“SKYE.” Simmons say’s racing to her friend and giving her a hug, Fitz walks over a minute later and puts his arms around both of them.

“Hey guys.” She tells them. “I’m okay.” She tells them.

“Simmons she says that see feels week and has a headache.” Coulson tells the scientists.

“What do you mean week?” Simmons asks her friend after ending the hug.

“I’m draining, like I’m not as strong as I should be, kind of like I have the flu I guess, or maybe like I haven’t slept in days.” Skye explains trying to think of the best way to describe how she is feeling, “How is she?” She asks as she gets off the table and with shaky steps walks over to Melinda.

“That’s hard to say.” Simmons tells her friend “She’s alive, but I’m a little fuzzy on the how.” Simmons tells her friend “Her injuries aren’t getting worse and everything is still functioning, how did you do it?” Simmons asks her friend.

“I’m not really sure.” Skye admits. “I remember thinking that I didn’t want her to die.” Skye says attempting to remember what was going on “And then I just knew what I had to do.” She answers.

“Which was what?” Coulson asks his daughter.

“Focus.” Skye answers thinking back “You know how when you run you put everything you have behind going faster and just keeping going?” She ask and the others nod “I guess it was a bit like that, I put everything I had, all my strength behind the single thought of Mom being alive and staying that way and somehow I did it.” She explains as she starts to sway on the spot and Natasha quickly catches her and steady’s her.

“Come sit down.” Natasha tells Skye leading her over to one of the chairs.

“Why did you say that you can only keep it up for four hours?” Simmons asks

“Simmons, maybe we should hold off questions for now.” Coulson comments as he realises that while she may have woken up Skye really doesn’t look good.

“No, it’s okay.” Skye tells her father “Um because that’s all I have.” Skye realises “I don’t know what I’m doing but I know that whatever it is I’m doing is my strength, something inside me, I think maybe to do with my brain is keeping Mom alive, but I only have enough for a few hours, does that make sense?” She asks Simmons confused and uncertain about what she is saying.

“Yes it does.” Simmons answers “You have astronomical levels of electrical activity in your brain, with what you just said I think that maybe, somehow you are using that excess to keep your Mother alive.” Simmons explains.

“How did you know something was wrong in the first place?” Clint asks curious.

“I just knew.” Skye answers “It’s was like when I’m hacking and I know what to do I knew that something had happened to Mom.” Skye explains.

“Has that ever happened before?” Coulson asks “You knowing something?”

“Except for when I’m hacking no.” Skye answers then remembers something “Actually yes.” She answers “Do you remember back in Israel before you were hurt when we were in the command centre after you briefed us on the mission and I was worried because it was dangerous?” Skye asks.

“Yeah, I remember.” Coulson comments.

“I was worried that something was going to happen to you but at the time I thought that I was worried because I had just found out who you were and I didn’t want to lose that, but I think that maybe I knew something was going to happen to you and that’s why I was worried.” Skye realises, “How could I have known that?” She asks confused.

“I don’t know.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Once we get to a S.H.I.E.L.D base we can run more tests and figure out how you can do that.” Simmons tells her friend.

“No.” Coulson says “No one outside the bus is to know about this, that Skye brought Melinda back or any of this.” Coulson tells the Scientist.

“Dad I want to know how I saved Mom, how I know things.” Skye tells her father.

“Skye I understand that I do.” Coulson says walking over to his daughter “If you want to figure out what this means, what you can do, then Fitz and Simmons can run tests, if that’s what you want but the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D can’t know about this” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Why not Sir?” Simmons asks confused “It’s against protocol.” She notes.

“What Skye did today is incredible and shouldn’t be possible. Even amongst S.H.I.E.L.D there are people who would want to use a power like this, use Skye. No one not even Director Fury or Agent Hill can know, at least until we figure things out. It’s the only way to keep you safe.” Clint explains to Skye, “Do you get that?” He asks FitzSimmons and Skye.

“Yeah, I get that.” Skye comments though she is now worried about what will happen if someone finds out what she has done.

“You guys will still help me right?” Skye asks FitzSImmons “Help me figure out what this is, and not tell anyone?” She asks her friends.

“Of course.” Simmons says without hesitation and Fitz nods.

“I’ll go have this talk with the others.” Natasha says getting up and leaving the Lab.

“Is my blood helping?” Clint asks Simmons curious.

“I can’t really tell.” Simmons admits a few minutes later once she has examined Melinda, “The level of blood in her system has defiantly increased which will support the story that Agent May got worse during the travel than how she was in the Field.” Skye informs the others.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” Skye tells her father.

“Don’t.” Coulson tells his daughter “Don’t you dare blame yourself for this, you brought her back Skye. She had stopped breathing, we had lost her, and you brought her back to us. Don’t apologise because you couldn’t do more, you did everything.” Coulson tells his daughter giving her a hug. “I love you Baby Girl.” Coulson whispers into Skye’s ear as he hugs her.

“I love you too Dad.” Skye says back.

Needing a minute to himself Clint disconnects himself from Melinda and walks down to the back of the Cargo Hold where he rests his forehead against the ramp and allows a few tears to full. He has been standing there for a couple of minutes when he fees a hand on his back and he turns to see Natasha.

“I’m here.” Natasha says simply because it has been clear that Clint has been trying to be strong for everyone, be the leader that the others needed and be the rock that, Phil, Skye and her have.

Clint doesn’t say a word but he does allow the tears to fall more freely. Natasha also doesn’t say anymore she just puts her arms around her partner’s shoulders.

(Line break)

Twenty minutes later Clint and Natasha are still at the back of the Cargo Bay and Coulson and Skye are sitting by Melinda’s side and FitzSimmons are obsessively monitoring the equipment that is monitoring Melinda. Coulson not looking away from Melinda for a second unless it’s to check that Skye is okay. Skye looks out into the Cargo Bay wanting to check to make sure that Clint and Natasha are still out there when she sees Ward standing out there clearly debating whether to come in or not.

“I’ll be right back.” Skye tells her father then with shaky steps she gets up and walks out to Ward.

“How is she?” Ward asks when Skye exits.

“Alive, somehow.” Skye answers.

“How are you?” Ward ask concerned.

“I don’t know.” Skye answers truthfully, “I know that I can keep her alive for another three hours but I don’t know if she will be okay.” She explains, “And I don’t know how I know that.” She tells Ward as she once again sways and almost falls over. “I need to know how I know that.” She admits.

“Wow, I’ve got you.” Ward says putting her arms around her to keep her steady “Is whatever you’re doing to your Mom, doing this to you?” Ward asks concerned “Don’t think, just answer.” He tells her.

“Yeah.” Skye answers. “It is.”

“Will you be okay?” Ward asks not being able to stop himself from thinking of the possibility that to save her Mother Skye may be killing herself.

“Yes.” Skye answers and Ward lets go of the breath he didn’t even realise he was holding, “That’s why I can only keep her alive for four hours, any longer will hurt me permanently and this thing, this power inside me won’t let that happen.” Skye answers “How do I know that?” She asks looking up at Ward clearly scared. “I don’t know, I need to know.”

“I don’t know, but I have an idea.” Ward tells her, wanting to do whatever he can to help because he doesn’t like seeing her as scared as she looks now, “Back at the house you closed your eyes and somehow you knew where your mother was, right?” He asks.

“Yeah.” Skye answers.

“How did you do that?” He asks.

“Um, I just focused on the fact that I knew she something was wrong.” Skye answers remembered “I knew I knew so I focused on that, and I realised that I knew she was in the basement.” Skye explains not sure if what she is saying makes any sense.

“I have an idea about something you could try, but only if you think you can handle it.” Ward tells Skye neither of them realising that he still has her arms around her “I don’t want you to try if it will make things worse.” He tells her.

“What’s your idea?” Skye asks positive that she will try it no matter what because she needs to know.

“You’ve been doing Tai-Chi with your mother right? For weeks now, practicing getting yourself into a state of relaxation.” Ward comments.

“Yeah, what about it?” Skye asks confused.

“What if you get yourself into that state of relaxation, but then you put your focus into the thought of how you saved May.” Ward suggests “It could be similar to what you did at the house.” He comments

“It’s worth a try.” Skye admits.

“Don’t try it if you don’t think you are strong enough at the moment.” Ward tells her as while he knows that she needs to know and he want to help her with that he doesn’t want to suggest something that will hurt her more.

“I’ll be okay.” Skye assures and she closes her eyes and just focus on her breathing.

For several minutes Ward just watches Skye, the entire time he does he regrets suggesting it because what if she isn’t strong enough at the moment? What if it’s all too much for her?

“I know how I did it.” Skye suddenly says before falling forward.

 

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 **AN2:** So I know this chapter has similarities to episode thirteen and I think I did take some inspiration from that but I have been planning something happening to Melinda since the beginning and this fit perfectly with what else I have planned, oh and even know it doesn’t help, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.

 

 


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** THANK YOU SO SO MUCH. Sorry for the Clift hanger hope this chapter explains a lot of the questions you have in regards to Skye.

* * *

 

“SKYE.” Ward yells worried, catching her before she hits the ground.

“What happened?’ Clint asks as he and Natasha run towards Ward who is helping Skye into the lab.

“SIMMONS.” Ward yells worried as he helps Skye over to the chair.

“I’m okay.” Skye assures Clint, Ward, Natasha, Coulson, Fitz and Simmons “That just took a bit more out of me than I was expecting. But I’m okay.” She assures everyone.

“What took a bit more? What did you do?” Coulson asks moving from Melinda’s side to his daughters.

“I found out how I saved Mom.” She admits “Simmons you said that the electrical activity in my brain is high, right?” She asks her friend.

“Extremely so.” Simmons answers.

“Somehow that’s how I know things, I’m still not clear on the how of that yet.” Skye explains it being clear that she is having a slight difficulty with speaking “But how I brought Mom back I know.” She adds.

“Explain everything to me.” Simmons tells her friend “I might be able to help you get your strength back.” She says pulling a chair over and sitting across from her friend.

“Whatever the Clairvoyant did when I was a baby increased the electrical activity in my brain, I still don’t know what he did, but I know that why I can do these things.” Skye admits pausing before she explains more.  

“Skye maybe you should rest, explain all of this later.” Coulson tells his daughter because it is clear that she is struggling.

“No.” Skye answers “This is important.” She answers, “When Mom stopped breathing all I knew was that I couldn’t let her die and so somehow, I’m still a bit fuzzy on the how, I pushed some of the excess electrical activity I have in my brain into her, kind of like a supercharged defibrillator, it got her heart beating and brain functioning again and I’m still doing it. The excess electrical activity I have in me that I gave to her is keeping her heart beating, keeping her brain and organs functioning, but I don’t know why her injuries aren’t getting worse, or why her organs aren’t being damaged.” Skye tells her “Finding out more is too hard at the moment.” Skye answers as her eyes drift open and shut.

“That’s good Skye, it helped a lot.” Simmons tells her friend as everyone else looks at Skye with a worried look “But there is something I need to know, something important. Why is it affecting you so much?”

“Because I need the excess electrical activity.” Skye explains screwing her eyes closed then opening them again, it looking almost like she is trying to get rid of blurriness. “Whatever was done to me, changed me and my body, but my brain adapted but now I’ve given a huge amount of the electrical energy that I have to Mom, I’m feeding it to her to keep her alive, and while I do that it makes me weaker because even though my current level of electrical activity are normal, even high for a human its low for me, which is making me week.” Skye explains.

“Will you be alright?” Coulson asks worried.

“Yeah, in three hours I will stop allowing Mom to feed of my electrical activity because I can’t give her any more than that. Once I stop my levels will start to rise again and in forty eight hours I will be fine.” Skye assures her father, “I need to rest.” She comments and Ward and Clint rush to her side to help her over to the table she was laying on earlier.

“Wake me when we get to where we’re going, it’s important.” Skye tells everyone before once more passing out.

“She’s fine, or as fine as she can be.” Simmons assures everyone as, as soon as Skye passed out she checked her over.

“Did what she say make sense to you?” Natasha asks interested.

“Yes, and I think I know why Agent May’s injuries aren’t getting worse.” Simmons comments.

“How?” Clint asks.

“Skye’s power seems to be electrically base like she said what she did is similar to a defibrillator except a lot more effective.” Fitz begins to explains “We can’t be sure but it is possible that along with using this electrical energy to keep Agent May’s heat beating Skye has put an electrical field around the injuries which is why Agent May isn’t bleeding out or getting worse, but we don’t know how to test it and even if we could it could affect what Skye is doing.” Fitz explains.

“Will the doctors at S.H.I.E.L.D be able to tell that?” Clint asks because he knows that if they can it will lead to questions that they won’t answer.

“No, they wouldn’t even think to test for something like that until after they treat all of Agent May’s injuries by which time what Skye has done would have worn off.” Simmons explains.

“And if Skye stops whatever she is doing before Agent May’s injuries are treated?” Ward asks asking the question that everyone is thinking but does not want to ask.

“She’ll die.” Simmons answers “What Skye has done has brought her time, but she has taken three bullets and has already stopped breathing once, there is still good chance that she won’t survive this.” Simmons answers looking at Ward and not Coulson, Natasha or Clint because she doesn’t want to see their reactions.

“How long to we reach the base?” Natasha asks Clint fighting to keep her voice steady.

“About an hour and that’s at top speed.” Clint answers.

“So that gives the S.H.I.E.L.D doctors two hours to fix Linda before Skye stops what she is doing.” Natasha realises. “Is that enough time?” She asks looking at FItzSimmons.

“I don’t know, it might be.” Simmons answers and the whole room drifts into silence.

“Why do you go make sure Stark isn’t destroying everything upstairs?” Clint suggests to FitzSimmons and Ward, a couple of minutes later, giving them a look then shotting a look at Coulson who hasn’t said a single thing since before Skye passed out, to try and get them to see he thinks Coulson needs a minute.

“Of course Sir.” Ward says understanding what he is really asking so he puts an arm around Fitz and Simmons and leads them out of the lab leaving Natasha, Clint and Coulson standing over Skye and Melinda.

After exchanging a look with each other Natasha and Clint walk over to Coulson, and Natasha grabs one of his hands while Clint grabs his other shoulder. None of them say anything the three friends, the family, just stands together watching over the two woman that they all love.

* * *

 

Thee three broken Agents stand together in silence until Clint leaves because he has to land the plane.

“I’ll wake Skye.” Natasha says being the first to speak a word since Ward left with FitzSimmons. “Skye, ребенок, wake up.” Natasha says shaking Skye’s shoulder, the only reason she is actually waking her instead of letting her get the rest that she clearly needs is because Skye says it was important to wake her up.

“тетя Наташа?” Skye asks confuse as she opens her eyes getting the Russian right for the first time.

“You said to wake you up.” Natasha tells the girl.

“Where are we?” Skye asks as she slowly sits up.

“Clint is landing us at Agent Hill’s base.” Natasha answers.

“Right, good.” Skye answers and attempts to get off the table but once more almost falls so Natasha has to grab her.

“Are you going to be alright to walk?” Natasha asks worried.

“Yeah, just stay close.” Skye requests as the door to the Lab opens and FitzSimmons, Ward, Tony and Pepper walk in.

“Hey, Electro-Girl is awake.” Stark comments and Natasha is in front of him in seconds “That will be the last time you make that joke why we are at a S.H.I.E.L.D facility, otherwise I will make what the Hulk did to Loki seem like child’s play, do I make myself clear?” Natasha asks Stark.

“Perfectly.” Stark responds Natasha’s threat clearly bothering him.

“We’re landed. A medical team is on its way.” Clint announces through the coms systems.

Wanting to be out of everyone’s way Skye walks over to Stark because surprisingly he is the person who is in the place the most out of the way, “No name, I’m not a hero.” Skye tells him quietly, not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

“What have we got?” The S.H.I.E.L.D medical team ask as they run up the ramp.

“Three GSW’s, she was stable in the field but her condition has gone downhill during the last hour, she has received a blood transfusion.” Simmons explains using the cover they came up with as she has spent the last hour going over it in her head so she wouldn’t screw up.

“Agent?” One of the Medical officers ask.

“Melinda May, A 078624.” Natasha answers and the office nods, Her Coulson, Clint and Melinda having memorised each other’s ID numbers years ago.

“Okay, we’ve got it from here.” One of the medical officers tell Simmons as Natasha pulls Coulson back from Melinda’s side as it was clear that he didn’t want to move, “Call Doctor Streiten and get him to meet us in the OR.” The medical officers say as they move Melinda off the table and onto the bed.

“Where can we wait for news?” Simmons asks as they take Melinda through the Cargo bay.

“Medical waiting room one, but we can only tell information to her selected emergency contacts.” The Officer tells her.

“That’s fine, all four of them are here.” Natasha answers knowing that, unless she has changed it, Melinda’s first emergency contact is Coulson, then her and Clint, then Maria and she doesn’t have anyone else listed.

“Stay with Phil, I’ll help Skye.” Natasha tells Clint as he walks over to her after climbing down the stairs.

“He’s barely hanging on.” Clint says to Natasha.

“I know.” Natasha says quietly back before she walks over to Skye to help her walk without making it look like that is what she is doing and Clint walks over to Coulson.

* * *

 

Ten minutes later, Coulson, Skye, Natasha, Clint, Ward, FitzSimmons, Tony and Pepper are in the waiting room all of them silent when Director Fury bursts in Commander Hill right behind him.

“What the hell is going on?” He asks and Natasha and Clint both stand up. “What has been going on? Coulson I want answers.” Fury demands but Coulson doesn’t look away from the door that leads to the OR, the door that he been staring at since they got to the waiting room.

“Sir, Melinda has been shot.” Clint says walking over to the Director as he and Natasha purposely get in a position so that they are between the Director and Coulson and Skye, “I will explain everything to you Sir, but not here.” He tells him using a final tone of voice so that it is clear that he will not budge.

“Hallway, now.” Fury orders Clint and both he and Hill exit the room Clint exchanging a nod with Natasha before leaving.

Once Clint leaves the room with Fury and Hill Natasha sits back down next to Skye.

* * *

 

“What the hell has been going on Barton?” Fury asks Clint once they are out of the hallway.

“Forget that for a minute Sir, how bad is Melinda hurt?” Maria asks worried about her friend because she knows she must be badly hurt for Coulson to be acting how he is.

“She took three slugs Ma’am.” Clint answers “One to the stomach, one to the chest and one to the shoulder. She was stable in the field but her condition has gotten worse in the last hour.” Clint lies.

“How did she get shot?” Fury asks a hint of worry clear, even though most people wouldn’t have been able to tell Clint cant.

“Stark managed to get a copy of an email that Quinn’s lawyer received and he and Skye decrypted it and from what the email said we believe that Quinn and the Clairvoyant wanted to somehow control Melinda, oh that reminds me Quinn is locked in the integration room on the plane.” He remembers “The email was traced and it lead to a house in Italy. Melinda, Natasha, Coulson, Stark, Ward and I went in and Melinda was shot, Stark took Melinda back to the plane and Simmons was able to stabilise her.” Clint explains. “Oh the house in Italy has a lot of prisoners detained.” He adds.

“Coordinates?” Fury asks.

“Um, here.” Clint answers pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket because he remember writing them down.

“We’ll send a team to Italy, and guards to get Quinn.” Fury comments.

“Good Sir.” Clint answers “Do not let Quinn escape again, and once there is word on Melinda, Natasha and I will interrogate him.” Clint says leaving no room for argument, then he heads back into the waiting room and takes his seat next to Coulson. Maria who followed Clint back in sits down next to Natasha.

“Um, does anyone want anything to drink or to eat?” Simmons asks a few minutes later feeling the need to do something.

“How about we just go and get a few choices for everyone.” Ward suggests when no one has answered and Simmons nods.

* * *

 

“Where are the vending machines in this place?” Simmons asks once they leave the waiting room, “This is S.H.I.E.L.D there are meant to be vending machines everywhere.” She comments.

“Simmons.” Ward says.

“Where are they?” Simmons asks almost becoming hysterical.

“Hey, don’t do this.” Ward says putting his hands on her shoulder “Don’t fall apart now Jemma, just keep it together.” He tells her.

“I couldn’t do anything.” She tells her.

“You did everything.” Ward tells her

“No, Skye did.” She says quietly.

“Jemma, you helped you came up with the idea to give May blood to help her you’ve been monitoring her and helped her in the field. You’ve gone above and beyond today, you should be proud of that.” Ward tells the girl that has become like a little sister to him and surprising both himself and Simmons Ward puts his arms around her and hugs her.

* * *

 

Half an hour later Director Fury joined the group waiting for Melinda without a word.

“Phil, you need to drink.” Clint says picking up a one of the bottle of water that Simmons and Ward brought, “You to Kid.” He tells Skye and Skye reaches over and picks up a bottle

“Phil, drink.” Clint repeats.

Coulson accepts the bottle of water but doesn’t say a word, he just continues to stare at the door that Melinda was taken through.

“Has there been any updates?” Fury asks Hill quietly.

“No Sir.” Hill responds.

“How you doing?” Natasha asks Skye quietly making sure that she didn’t ask loud enough for Hill to have heard.

“Getting weaker.” Skye admits.

“Skye if you can’t keep giving your energy then don’t, your Mom wouldn’t want you to keep saving her if it means hurting yourself.” Natasha say, knowing without a doubt that it is what Melinda would want, her voice so quiet that Skye can only just hear it.

“I’ve got to.” Skye tells Natasha “I’ve got to give her the best chance I can, I’ll be okay.” Skye tells her Aunt, “But If I lose consciousness again, just say I feel asleep.” Skye requests.

“Are you sure you will be okay?” Natasha ask worried.

“Positive.” Skye answers.

Looking away from Skye Natasha looks over Skye’s and Coulson’s head to Clint who she shares a worried look with.                

* * *

 

Half an hour later Skye has once again loss consciousness but because no one is speaking and doing very little moving the only people who have noticed are Natasha and Clint. As soon as Natasha noticed that Skye had once again passed out she checks to make sure she is still breathing and that heart is beating.

Even though according to Skye there Is still another hour before Skye has to stop giving Melinda her excess electronic activity Natasha can’t help but wonder if Skye can handle another hour of whatever it is that she is actually doing and whether she really will be okay once she stops.

* * *

 

Another half an hour passes and those who know what Skye did are all too aware that soon the help that the doctors are unknowingly getting from Skye will stop, which means it will be up to them to keep Melinda alive.

Ever since Skye passed out back on the bus Coulson hasn’t said a word to anyone. All his thoughts are on Melinda and Skye. He gets now how Melinda must have felt when Clint and Natasha told her that he had died because for thirty seconds he felt that to and honestly he doesn’t know how she coped with that feeling for days, he doesn’t know if he will be able to cope if she doesn’t make it.

Realistically he knows that even with the help that Skye has given that the chances of survival after three gunshots aren’t high, but he also knows that no one is stronger than Melinda and that if anyone can make It through this it would be her, but at the same time he can’t help but think of what the cost will be.

Even if it was only thirty seconds, she died, and he knows better than anyone what that does to you. He just hopes that if she does make it through then she doesn’t have that hollow feeling in her stomach that he had.

For thirty years Melinda May has been his one content, the one person who he could always count on, his best friend, his partner, his everything, “I need you Mel, just hold on please.” Coulson thinks to himself.

Looking away from the door for the first time he looks down at Skye who has her eyes closed. “Skye.” He says worried.

“She’s fine, she just fell asleep.” Natasha answers in her normal tone of voice, “She warned me that she would lose consciousness again. I don’t know how much longer she can keep giving her energy to Melinda.” Natasha tells Coulson in a whisper, Coulson nods and puts his arm around Skye and goes back to staring at the door, his thoughts on what everything that has happened in the past few hour’s means for Skye.

* * *

 

The next hour passes and the team become all too aware that the Doctors are now on their own and they hope that what Skye did brought the doctors enough time so that they can fix all of Melinda’s injuries.

“Is this a good thing or a bad thing that it is taking so long?” Fitz asks Simmons interested.

“Hard to say.” Simmons responds. “It could mean either.” 

“She has to be okay, right? She’s Melinda May, The Cavalry, she can’t die.” Fitz says quietly.

“She’s human Fitz, just like the rest of us.” Ward tells him. “She can die.”

“She already has once today.” Tony comments.

“Stop it all of you.” Pepper tells the three men in a quiet angry whisper. “We’ve got to think positive, she’s still in surgery. She’s fighting, she’s still got a chance.” She tells them “Stop talking like that.” She says and she receives three nods in response.

* * *

 

Just like they have for the previous two and a half hours the next twenty minutes pass in silence, until the door that leads to the operating room opens and Doctor Streiten walks

“Skye wake up.” Coulson tells his daughter, shaking her awake as everyone wanting stands up.

“Dad?” She asks confused.

“Phil.”  Doctor Streiten greats as he walks over to Coulson.

“Doc.” Coulson greats “How is she?” He asks barely able to get the question out, not being able to tell from Doctor Streiten facial expressions whether the surgery went well or not, whether Melinda is alive or dead.

 

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	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

“She’s alive, but in critical condition.” Doctor Streiten informs Coulson, “She is being moved to the ICU and is currently in a medically induced coma to assist her body with healing.” Doctor Streiten informs Coulson.

“What are her chances?” Coulson asks as he puts his arm around Skye and pulls her into his side.

“I can’t say.” Doctor Streiten answers truthfully, “But the next twenty four hours are crucial, with the degree of her injuries I was surprised that she was even alive when she arrived. One of the bullets lodged in her liver, which required me to remove a lobe of it, another nicked her lung and caused quite a bit of damage, which has been repaired, and another nicked the artery in her shoulder, which has also been repaired, the fact that she has made it this far is incredible. I will monitor her closely and see how she goes, but at the moment I am not comfortable giving odds.” He informs Coulson.

“Can we see her?” Coulson asks.

“Of course, but no more than four people at a time.” Streiten says extending the rule from the usual three because he knows that Skye, Coulson, Natasha and Clint will want to be with her as much as possible.

“You guys go first, we’ll wait here.” Ward tells Coulson, Skye, Natasha and Clint.

“Thank you Dr Steiten.” Coulson tells the doctor shaking his hand.

“Of course, she’s in ICU room two. I’ve warned the nurses that the visitor rule has been extended by one so you shouldn’t have a problem.” Dr Steiten tells Coulson.

“Thank you.” Clint tells the Doctor.

“She’s alive.” Coulson says sounding relived but also extremely worried as he hugs Skye.

“She’s alive.” Clint tells his friend once Skye and Coulson break apart and Skye hugs Natasha and Clint hugs Coulson.

“Let’s go see her.” Natasha comments after hugging Coulson while Clint hugs Skye.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Coulson says and the four leave the room after Skye gets hugged by FitzSimmons and Ward and Coulson by Pepper, Hill, and surprisingly Tony.

After they do leave the room Doctor Steiten walks over to Hill and Fury. “We need to talk.” He tells them.

Exchanging a confused look Hill and Fury follow Dr Steiten out of the waiting room and to Hill’s office.

“What is it Doc?” Fury asks once they are behind closed doors.

“Melinda shouldn’t be alive.” He says simply.

“What do you mean she shouldn’t be alive? You said she is.” Hill comments confused.

“She is, but I don’t know how.” Steiten answers “Her injuries should have killed her in minutes, I have no idea how she made it two hours, it should have been impossible.” He tells them.

“So you’re saying that someone lied about something that happened.” Fury comments.

“Or there is something that happened that they haven’t told us.” Steiten answers, “Because everything I know tells me that Melinda should have been dead long before she got here.”

“Why would they lie about what happened?” Hill asks “Especially if it would affect Melinda’s treatment?” She asks.

“I don’t know, all I know is that there is more to the story than is being said.” Steiten says “Now if you excuse me I need to go check on her.” Steiten says before leaving.

“Sir if they are lying, I am sure that they have a very good reason.” Hill comments as Fury is currently looking less than impressed.

“I’m sure they do, but that doesn’t change the fact that I need to know what is going on.” Fury comments.

“What are you going to do?” Hill asks interested.

“I’m going to wait a couple of days then find out what they aren’t telling us.” Fury tells her.

“Sir, its Coulson, Barton, Romanoff, and Ward who are lying. If they don’t want anyone to know the truth then no one will.” Hill points out.

“I know, which is why I will start with FitzSimmons.” Fury explains.

Though she doesn’t let it show Hill really doesn’t think that what Fury is planning is a good idea.

* * *

 

When Coulson, Skye, Clint and Natasha enter Melinda’s room the sight before them is quite confronting. Melinda is laying in the bed connected to a lot of all different machines and there is a tube in her mouth that is helping her to breath.

“Mom.” Skye says standing just inside the room, so shocked at what she is seeing.

It is clear on the look that Coulson has on his face that seeing Melinda like this is hard on him. He walks over and sits down on her left side and being careful not to disturb any of the cords her picks up Melinda’s hand and gives it a kiss

 “I can’t do this.” Skye says before exiting the room.

“I’ll go.” Clint tells Natasha and Coulson and follows Skye out.

* * *

 

After leaving the room Skye doesn’t go any further than just outside the door. When Clint walks out he sees Skye sliding down the wall crying.

“I’ve got you Kid.” Clint says putting his arms around Skye and pulling her up so that she is standing and just holds her while she cries.

“She’s dying.” Skye says through her tears.

“No, she’s fighting to survive.” Clint corrects, “She may not win, but for the moment she’s fighting.”

“I can’t do anything, not for seventy two hours.” Skye says quietly or as quietly as she can when crying.

“Not here.” Clint says to her looking around to make sure no one heard.

“I can’t lose her Uncle Clint, Dad can’t lose her, she can’t die.” Skye tells her Uncle.

“I know.” Clint says just tightening his hold around Skye trying his hardest to let his own tears fall as he knows that Skye doesn’t need to see him break down as well.

For ten minutes Clint and Skye just stay outside Melinda’s room, Skye crying and Clint holding her.

“I’m going to give Coulson an update on Melinda if you would like to listen.” Dr Steiten informs Clint and Skye before entering Melinda’s room.

“Thanks Doc.” Clint tells him “What do you say Kid, do you think you could go in there?” Clint asks curious.

“Yeah, I think so.” Skye says uncertainly.

“If you don’t think you can then that’s okay.” Clint tells her.

“No, I can.” Skye says determinably before entering Melinda’s room Clint right behind her.

* * *

 

When Clint and Skye enter Melinda’s room they see Coulson sitting in the same position that he was when they left and Natasha is standing behind him.

“Her vital signs are as good as they could be considering everything.” Dr Steiten informs everyone.

“Why does she have a tube in her throat?” Skye asks.

“One of the bullets did some damage to her lung, I repaired the damage but the tube is helping her to breath to give her lungs a rest. If her condition doesn’t get worse I will remove the tube in the next twelve to twenty four hours and she will be able to breathe on her own.” Steiten explains.

“What about the medically induced coma?” Coulson asks “When will you take her out of that?” He asks.

“After I have removed the tube and she I breathing on her own I will do an assessment and determine when I will reverse the effects of the Coma.” Dr Steiten explains, “If everything goes well I would say in the next forty eight hours I will wake her up.” Dr Steiten explains, “But I want to make it clear that there is a long way to that point. Her condition is serious and even all her vitals at the moment are positive that could change.” Dr Steiten explains wanting to stress that Melinda is far from out of the woods.

“We understand.” Natasha answers.

“Do you have any more questions?” He asks looking at Coulson.

“No, thank you Doctor.” Coulson tells him and Dr Steiten leaves.

Once Dr Steiten leaves Skye hesitantly walks over to the side of the bed that Coulson is sitting on.

“Do you think she can hear us?” Skye asks her Father curious not looking away from her mother as she does.

“I don’t know.” Coulson answers. “Maybe.” He answers uncertainly.

“Skye?” Coulson asks concerned several minutes later when Skye suddenly grabs onto the bed for support

“I’m okay.” Skye assures her father.

“Come sit down.” Coulson says standing up and helping Skye back over to the seat which he is sitting on which is just big enough for two people to sit on.

When Coulson and Skye sit down next to each other Coulson puts his arm around Skye and Natasha walks over to Clint.

“How’s he been?” Clint asks Natasha.

“Silent until now.” Natasha answers “I need to do something.” She reveals hating that one of the few people in the world who she truly cares about is barely hanging on and there is nothing she can do.

“Quinn needs to be interrogated. I told Fury that we would do it.” Clint tells his partner.

“That sounds really good right now.” Natasha comments “It will give the others a chance to come see her.” She comments.

“Phil, we’re going to have a little talk with Quinn.” Natasha tells him “We’ll send the others in to see Melinda for a bit.” Natasha tells him.

“Okay.” Coulson responds and Clint and Natasha exit the room.

(Line break)

Before going to the integration room Natasha and Clint went back to the waiting room to tell Ward and FitzSimmons that they could go and see Melinda.

“You might want to prepare yourselves.” Clint informs the three as they are going in together even though it is breaking the rules “Skye couldn’t be in there at first, Melinda is in pretty bad shape, and you should prepare yourself for that.” Clint says before leaving the three of them to go and interrogate Quinn.

Before entering Melinda’s room, FitzSimmons and Ward all pause for a moment as the remember Clint’s words and they prepare themselves for what they are going to see.

When they do enter none of them say a word to Coulson and Skye who are sitting together on a chair next to Melinda’s bedside.

Even though Clint warned them it is still hard to see Melinda how she is, see that she is connected to so many things, that she has a tube down her throat, seeing her looking so week when she is one of the strongest people they know.

Looking over and seeing that she is struggling to keep it together Fitz reaches over and grab’s Jemma’s hand, showing her that she isn’t alone.

* * *

 

 

Twenty minutes after leaving Melinda’s room Natasha is entering the Interrogation room that Quinn is in. After his last escape there is a guard in the room with him which Natasha dismisses.

“Well Agent Romanoff. S.H.I.E.L.D must really want me to talk if you’re here.” Quinn tells her.

“Why were you in Italy? What were you and Rania planning?” Natasha asks avoiding answering the question.

“That is between us and the Clairvoyant. We won’t talk, not even you will be able to make us.” Quinn reveals.

“Oh but I will make you talk.” Natasha tells him “But you’re right about not making Rania talk, it would be hard with the bullet I put through her head.” Natasha tells him then “Oh, I struck a nerve.” She realises as Quinn had a small reaction that he tried to hide but never the less a reaction “Did you care about her Quinn?”

“Of course not.” Quinn answers but it is clear that he is lying.

“What does the Clairvoyant want with Melinda May, Phil Coulson and Skye?” Natasha asks attempting to make it seem like she believes his lie but making note of it to use it in the future. “Oh and what have you done to a man called Mike?” she adds remembering how shocked Melinda was to see the man.

“I won’t talk.” Quinn informs Natasha. “No matter what you do you will never find out anything.”

“We’ll see about that.” Natasha says standing up.

“Yes, we will.” Quinn says but before either of them can say anything there is the sound of something breaking inside Quinn’s mouth.

“Dam it” Natasha says rushing to him but she is too late he is already dead.

“Why the hell wasn’t he checked for cyanide pills?” Natasha asks the guards, recognizing the effects, who have followed Clint into the integration room, angrily.

“He was, he was clear.” One of the three guards tells Natasha.

“This is the second time we have had him in custody and we’ve had him for hours. If he had undetected cyanide why wait so long to use it?” Clint asks Natasha.  

“I don’t know. We don’t even know if he decided to use it.” Natasha points out “We know that the Clairvoyant has failsafe’s in people in his employ, he could have one in Quinn. We don’t know which one of them flipped the switch but we do know that either Quinn or the Clairvoyant couldn’t risk Quinn answering my questions.”

“This also means where back at square one.” Clint points out “Quinn’s dead, Rania’s dead, we have no leads to the Clairvoyant.”

“Ma’am, Sir, you need to see this.” Another of the guards tells Natasha and Clint.

“What?” Natasha asks.

“This isn’t Quinn, it’s a decoy.” One of the Gauds tells them.

“Are you sure?” Clint asks shocked “Good ones are meant to be indistinguishable.” He points out.

“And this one is, until a few minutes ago.” The Guard answers “He passed through all the checks as human.”

“A decoy no matter how good couldn’t do that.” Natasha notes “And the Quinn Melinda and I took down at the compound was human, we had fought someone with superpowers minutes earlier we would know if we took down another.”  

“So you’re saying that somehow Quinn was switched for his decoy while in S.H.I.E.L.D custody.” Clint realises.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Natasha comments “We need to talk to Fury.” She says then turns to the guards “Lock this room down, no one in or out until Agent Barton and I get back.” She instructs.

“Yes Ma’am.” The three guards respond and Natasha and Clint leave.

* * *

 

After leaving the interrogation room Clint and Natasha head straight to Hill’s office where they assume Fury will be.

“Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff, what is going on?” Fury asks them as they walk in without knocking.

“Sir I was just down interrogating Quinn and there was a sound of something breaking coming from Quinn’s mouth and he died, but when the guards checked they discovered that it wasn’t really a Quinn, he was a decoy.” Natasha explains.

“That’ no possible.” Fury answers “I took Quinn to the interrogation room myself. I watched as he went through all the scans. It was him.” Fury informs the agents.

“It was also really him that Melinda and I took down in Italy, I am positive of that.” Natasha informs the director

“Somehow between the time that you left him and Nat interrogated him there was a swap.” Clint tells them.

“Why would they go all to the trouble of doing a swap and then kill the decoy?” Maria asks as that doesn’t make sense.

“Maybe to make us think Quinn is dead.” Natasha suggests.

“There would be no point, one of the guards were able to tell in seconds that it was one.” Clint reminds her.

“What guard?” Fury asks as he knows that there are very few people currently in the building who would be able to tell that.

“English guy, tall, dark hair, green eyes” Natasha says remembering.

“There is no guard matching that description working.” Hill informs Natasha and without a word all four of them go running down to the interrogation room

* * *

 

When they reach the interrogation room they find two of the three guards’ unconscious on the ground and the third along with Quinn missing.

“This is Agent Hill, implementing Emergency lockdown.” Hill says into her walkie talky.

Natasha and Clint look at each other and then without another word run out of the room as they realise that the three people that it seems like Quinn and the Clairvoyant want most are currently very vulnerable.

* * *

 

Natasha and Clint run as fast as they can and burst into Melinda’s room causing FitzSimmons and Ward to turn quickly concerned.

“What’s going on?” Ward asks concerned.

“Agent Ward, a word, outside.” Clint says knowing that at the moment, Skye and Coulson don’t need anything else to worry about, but that they need Ward to help him and Natasha watch over Coulson, Melinda and Skye.

“I’ll stay.” Natasha tells to Clint as he leads Ward outside.

“Attention all personal we are currently going on emergency lockdown, no one will be able to leave the premises until further notice” A voice over the speaker says.

“Tasha, what’s going on?” Coulson asks his friend.

“Nothing you need to worry about, just a small issue.” Natasha comments.

“Natasha.” Coulson repeats.

“I was interrogating Quinn and he died by what looked like cyanide and one of the guards told me that it wasn’t really Quinn but a decoy. Clint and I went to talk to Fury and Hill. When we described the person who told us that Quinn was a decoy Hill told us that no one fitting that description was on guard duty today. We ran back down there the guard that told us that Quinn was a decoy was gone and so was Quinn, the other guards were unconscious.” Natasha explains. “That’s why we are on lockdown.” She explains.

“So was it really Quinn or not?” Simmons asks interested.

“I don’t know.” Natasha answers honestly “All we do know is that when Melinda and I took him down and when he was put in that cell he was.” She explains.

Before anyone can say anymore the door opens and Dr Steiten walks in “I’m sorry I’m already breaking the rules by letting there be four of you in here at once, I cannot allow five.” He tells everyone when he realises how many people are in the room.

“We understand, come on Fitz.” Simmons comments and her and Fit leave the room.

“How is she?” Coulson asks.

“The same.” Dr Steiten answers.

“Is that god or bad?” Skye asks worried.

“Considering her condition it is the best possible news.” Dr Steiten informs them as Clint comes back in.

“Ward is going to keep an eye out for Quinn.” Clint informs Natasha.

“I’ll be back in half an hour to do another check.” Dr Steiten informs Coulson before leaving.

“Do either of you need something to drink? Or maybe eat?” Clint asks Coulson and Skye.

“No.” Coulson answers.

“I’m alright.” Skye responds “But thanks.” She adds

Clint nods and he and Natasha sit down on the other two seats in the room.

* * *

 

The next three hours pass without incident. Dr Steiten comes in every half an hour to check on Melinda and so far nothing has changed. Skye has once again fallen asleep when the door opens and director Fury walks in.

“There is no sign of the guard or Quinn.” Fury tells them all.

“Do we know whether it was really a decoy?” Clint asks interested

“No.” Fury answers, “We’ve got the word out though.” He tells him. “Is she okay?” He asks looking at Skye.

“Just tied.” Natasha answers “We haven’t gotten much sleep the last week, and now with everything that has happened she is exhausted.” Natasha explains.

Fury nods “I would like to speak to you and Agent Barton outside.” He requests.

“Of course Sir.” Natasha respond and her and Clint follow Fury outside leaving Coulson the only conscious one in the room.

Being careful not to wake Skye Coulson moves the chair just a bit closer to Melinda’s side, “I don’t know if you can hear me or not but if you can hold on Mel, please.” Coulson begs “We still need you, I still need you. I know the other place is incredible and beautiful, everything that this place isn’t, but don’t go Mel, please. Just stay with me.” Coulson tells Melinda as a tear starts to roll down his face.

* * *

 

“I will give you one chance to tell me the truth.” Fury informs Natasha and Clint.

“Sir?” Clint asks pretending to be confused.

“According to Doctor Steiten Melinda should have died minutes after she was hurt.” Fury tells them “In his opinion there is no way that Melinda could have made it the two hours to help. So I am asking for the truth.” He tells the partners.

“I’ve already told you the truth Sir.” Clint tells the Director “Melinda was shot, Simmons was able to stabilize her and we got her here.” Clint says.

“Ah huh.” Fury comments clearly not believing it “Agent Romanoff, do you have anything to add?” He asks.

“No Sir.” Natasha tells him.

“I want full detail reports from both of you as well as Agents Fitz, Simmons and Ward, and Stark, and Coulson eventually. I will find out what happened.” Fury tells them before walking away.

Natasha and Clint look at each other but they don’t say anything, they just turn and walk back into Melinda’s room.

* * *

 

When Natasha and Clint re entre Melinda’s room the find Coulson and Skye in the same position but they see the evidence of fresh tears on Coulson’s face.

Without a word Clint and Natasha just return to their seats and sit down. Neither of them mentioning the fresh tears that they both of them see the evidence of.

“What did Fury want?” Coulson asks several minutes after they sit back down.

“Steiten told Fury that Mels should have died from her injuries he wanted the truth, we told him that we already told him the truth, but he still doesn’t believe that what happen did. All of us with the exceptions of you Skye and Pepper need to give reports on what happened.” Clint explains.

“Right.” Coulson answers and the three friends drift back into silence the only sounds are that of the machines monitoring Melinda.

 

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	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

The next six hours pass in the same way. Doctor Streiten coming in every half an hour to check on Melinda and Coulson, Clint, Natasha and Skye not moving or looking away from Melinda. For the entire six hours Skye has been asleep which has led to Coulson, Clint and Natasha becoming more worried about her.

“How is she?” Natasha asks Coulson.

“Fine, as far as I can tell.” Coulson responds.

“You haven’t eaten or moved out of that chair in almost ten hours, why don’t you take some time, have some food, stretch your legs.” Clint suggests.

“I’m not leaving her.” Coulson tells Clint.

“Okay.” Clint says knowing that it was very unlikely that Coulson would agree to his suggestion, “What about if I go get you some food, will you eat?” Clint asks.

“Yes.” Coulson responds “Get something for Skye too.” He requests.

“Of course.” Clint answers “Nat?” He asks and Natasha nods.

“I’ll be back soon.” Clint says before leaving the room.

Once Clint leaves the door opens and Tony walks in.

“How is she?” He asks Natasha quietly.

“According to Streiten as okay as she can be.” Natasha answers. “He still won’t say what her chances are though.” Natasha admits.

“How are they?”

“Not great.” Natasha answers.

“Fury’s on the warpath.” Tony comments.  

“I know, but we told him the truth, he’ll realise that soon.” Natasha comments giving Stark a look which says don’t say more here.

“Pepper’s sitting with Fitz and Simmons. They’re not doing too good.” Tony reveals “I should get back to them. Ward is outside, send him if any of you need anything.” Tony requests showing his more caring side.

“Thanks Tony.” Natasha says and Tony leaves with a nod.

* * *

 

Ten minutes after Stark leaves Clint returns with food.

“Skye, Honey wake up.” Coulson tells Skye shaking her awake

“Mom?” Skye asks waking up “Is she okay?” Skye asks turning to look at her mother.

“She’s still the same.” Coulson tells his daughter. “Clint brought food, you hungry?” Coulson asks.

“Yeah I am.” Skye admits.

“Then come help yourself Kid, I brought more than enough.” Clint tells his niece.

Coulson, Clint and Natasha all would like to ask how Skye is feeling but because they can’t risk being overhead they don’t.

“Dad, what do you want?” Skye asks her father as she walks over to where Clint has put all the food, “Uncle Clint brought everything.” She comments looking at the various raps and sandwiches and other food that Clint brought.

“I’m not fussed, you guys take what you want I’ll have what’s left.” Coulson tells her.

 “Here.” Skye says walking over and handing her Dad a sandwich and a coffee.

Coulson nods and drinks a mouthful of the coffee.

“How long was I asleep for?” Skye asks curious.

“About seven hours.” Natasha answers.

Skye nods and sits back down, just as she does the door opens and Doctor Streiten walks back in.

“Doc, what is it?” Coulson asks concerned when the Doctor finishes his exam and has an odd look on his face.

“She is starting to fight the intubation.” Dr Streiten answers.

“That’s a good thing, right?” Coulson comments.

“It is, but at the same time with the damage done to her lungs I wouldn’t be comfortable removing it at the moment.” Dr Streiten explains.

“So what are you going to do?” Clint asks concerned.

“I’m going to monitor even more closely for the next hour and increase he sedation, and make a decision in an hour about how to proceed” Streiten explains.

“And if she keeps fighting the intubation, are you going to remove it?” Natasha asks

“Yes, I will.” Dr Streiten answers “But doing so is risky because while her lungs seem to be doing very well at the moment they are damaged and there function could decrease quickly.” Dr Streiten explain, “I will be back in twenty minutes.” Dr Streiten says before leaving.

“Why can’t we just get good news?” Skye asks. “Why does there have to be bad as well?” She asks.

“I don’t know.” Coulson answers.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Skye asks several minutes later.

“Down the hall.” Natasha answers “Ward is outside get him to show you.” She tells her and Skye nods and exits the room.

* * *

 

As soon as Skye exit the room Ward stands up and walks over to her.

“How is she?” He asks concerned.

“Good, bad. It’s not really clear.” Skye answers “She’s fighting the intubation which is good, but her lungs are damaged which makes removing the intubation is risky, and Dad’s falling apart and I’m so tied and…” Skye begins to say but Ward cuts her off.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Ward tells her reaching out and grabbing her hand.

“No, it’s not. How is any of this okay?” Skye asks.

“You’re Mom’s alive.” Ward tells her, “I know it’s not much, but it’s something, and no matter what happens you’re not alone. You have your Dad and Natasha and Clint, FitzSImmons even Stark and Pepper, and you have me. No matter what happens you’re not going to have to handle it alone.” He tells her.

“Thanks Grant.” Skye tells him, “Where are the bathrooms? тетя Наташа told me to ask you.” Skye says to him.

“Hey, you finally got it right.” Ward comments.

“Yeah I did.” Skye realises, “Bathrooms?” She asks.

“This way.” He tells her leading her to the bathrooms neither minding that he hasn’t let go of her hand.

* * *

 

An hour later Dr Streiten comes back for his third check of the hour. When he enters the room everyone is in the exact same position that they were in a hour ago though both Skye and Coulson have briefly left to go to the bathroom, Coulson being as quick as possible because he didn’t want to leave Melinda for longer than he had to.

“Dr Streiten, what’s the verdict?” Coulson asks.

“I’m going to remove the intubation but she will remain sedated for another twelve to twenty four hours and she will be on oxygen and monitored closely.” He informs Coulson, “You’re going to have to leave while I remove the tube.” He tells Coulson.

“No, I’m not leaving her.” Coulson says leaving no room for argument, “Skye go outside with Tasha and Clint for a few minutes.” He tells her daughter.

“Okay.” Skye says and she leaves the room with Natasha but Clint walks over to Coulson.

“We should listen to the Doctor, Phil.” Clint tells him.

“No, I’m not leaving her.” Coulson says not looking away from Melinda.

“Phil…”

“No.”

“Doc, would it be alright if we stayed?” Clint asks realising that there is nothing he can do to get Coulson to leave Melinda and he’s not going to leave Coulson.

“I guess it will be okay, but it will not be pleasant for you to see this.” Dr Streiten informs Clint and Coulson as he comes to the same conclusion that Clint did, there’s no way to get Coulson to leave.

“I understand.” Coulson responds and Dr Streiten get started on removing the tube from Melinda’s throat.

* * *

 

When Natasha and Skye exit the room they don’t just see Ward waiting but FitzSimmon, Pepper and Tony as well.

“What’s happening?” Simmons asks.

“Dr Streiten is removing the intubation, but Coulson won’t leave so Clint’s staying with him.” Natasha answers.

“That’s good right, that they are removing the intubation?” Pepper asks as she assumes so.

“It is but how Agent May responds is the unpredictable part.” Simmons answers.

“What do you mean?” Ward asks.

“Just because she is fighting the intubation doesn’t necessarily mean she is really ready for it to be removed.  She could go downhill and fast without it.” Simmons explains “How are you?” She asks Skye quietly.

“Week, worried, scared, a thousand other things.” Skye responds just as quietly.

“Not here.” Natasha tells the pair just as quietly.

“Agent Romanoff a word.” Hill says walking down the corridor.

“Of course.” Natasha responds and she follows her down the corridor and to Hill’s office.

“How is Melinda doing?” Hill asks concerned.

“She’s having the intubation removed and from what Dr Streiten said it’s all down to chance now, she could get better or she could get worse.” Natasha explains. “You know you can come and see her for yourself.”

“I know, and I will. Just not now.” Hill answers.

“Of course.” Natasha responds realising that it must be just as hard for Hill to see Melinda hurt as it is for her because Melinda is more than just an agent to Hill she’s a friend and a mentor, something that Hill truly look up too.

“I don’t know whether you’re lying about what happened but I know if you are you have a good reason.” Hill tells Natasha “But Fury is determine to know that reason, it may be a better course of action to just tell him. I have told him my opinion that he should just let it go but he won’t.” Hill informs Natasha.

“Thank you for telling me that but we’re not lying so there is nothing for Director Fury to discover.” Natasha comments “I should be getting back.” She says.

“Of course.” Hill responds and Natasha walks to the door.

“Maria, you should come and see her, ever if it’s just for a couple of minutes.” Natasha says before exiting the room.

* * *

 

An hour later Natasha and Skye are back in Melinda’s room. Having took Natasha’s advice Hill come to see Melinda but she only stayed for a few minutes.

“How much longer did Streiten say he is going to keep her sedated for?” Skye asks interested.

“Twenty four hours if she doesn’t get any worse.” Coulson answers. “But it will be at least twenty four hours after the sedation is removed before she is awake.” He explains.

Skye nods and makes herself more comfortable on the chair just as there is a knock on the door and Simmons walks in “Fitz and I are heading back to the plane to get a few things, is there anything any of you need?” She asks.

“No, but thanks Jemma.” Skye answers.

“No, take Ward with you.” Coulson answers and Natasha and Clint both shake their heads no.

Simmons nods and exits the room.  

* * *

 

The next twenty four hours pass the same way. Coulson and Skye not leaving Melinda unless they have to go the bathroom, or in Skye’s case change into the clean clothes that Simmons brought her even though she didn’t ask for them. Natasha and Clint only leave for about ten minutes at a time to get everyone food or to allow the others to spend a bit of time with Melinda, and even then they are right outside the door, except when they both went back to the bus at different times to have a shower and put on clean clothes. Thanks to Ward and Stark, Natasha and Clint are well aware that Fury is still trying to find out what really happened but as of yet he has had no luck.

During the twenty four hours Melinda’s condition remains mostly the same except for there has been a couple of times where her oxygen levels have gotten low but her condition improved again every time.

Natasha, Clint, Coulson and waiting for Dr Streiten to come and do his next check-up and Skye is once more asleep.

“Phil once Streiten reverses the sedation it will still be twenty four hours at least before Mels is awake.” Clint tells him.

“I know.” Coulson answers.

“You should take half an hour, go back to the bus have a shower, maybe some rest.” Clint suggests as even know he knows there is only a very little chance that he will, he has to try “Nat, Skye and I will stay with her.” He promises.

“No, I’m not leaving her.” Coulson once more repeats.

“Phil you’ve been wearing that same suit for over thirty six hours. You’ve barely moved out of that chair, you barely eaten. Take an hour, look after yourself.” Natasha tells her friend.

“I can’t. Not until I know she is okay.” Coulson tells her.

“Phil…” Clint begins to say but Coulson cuts him off “No, she’s barely hanging on. I can’t leave her, I won’t.” Coulson says.

Natasha and Clint look at each other and try and decide if trying to push him more will be a good idea, but they decide against it. Realising that there is a strong possibility that he will snap if they try any more.

The room drifts back to silence for several minutes until the door opens and Dr Streiten walks in. Coulson, Natasha and Clint are silent while Dr Streiten does his exam.

“Doc how is she?” Coulson asks once he finishes his exam.

“Her vitals are still irregular and the frequent fluctuation of her oxygen levels is concerning, but everything else is very positive. Her shoulder is healing well and there seems to be no complications from the liver resection. I feel comfortable reclassifying her condition to critical but stable, and I will reverse the sedation.” Streiten explains.

“What does that mean exactly?” Clint asks.

“It means that while Melinda isn’t out of the woods by any means especially considering her injuries her condition has improved drastically.” Streiten explains as he administers the medication to reverse the sedation “It will take at least twenty four hours for her to wake.” Streiten explains.

“Do you have any questions?” He asks.

“No.” Coulson, Clint and Natasha say.

Once Streiten leaves the room Coulson puts his head in his hand and lets out a sigh of relief as even though Melinda isn’t out of the woods it is good news and that means everything to him. He has had his head in his hands for about a minute when he feels hands on his shoulder and he looks up to see Clint and Natasha

None of the three of them say anything because they know they don’t need to.

“You should wake Skye.” Clint says several minutes later. “I’ll go let the others know.” He tells Coulson.

Coulson nods, “I’ll bring back Coffee.” Clint says before leaving the room.

* * *

 

After leaving Melinda’s room Clint stands outside the door for a minute to collect himself. He is so so happy that Melinda is getting better but at the same time he knows that she still has a long way to go and that there is a still possibility that she won’t be okay.  After collecting himself Clint heads to the conference room that Hill gave the team to wait in about twelve hours ago.

As soon as he enters the room FItzSimmons rush to him.

“How is she?” Simmons asks.

“Dr Streiten has reversed the sedation, he said she is in a critical but stable condition.” Clint answers.

“Simmons what does that actually mean?” Ward asks.

“It’s the best news that there possibly could be, especially considering her injuries.” Simmons answers “Are her oxygen levels still fluctuating?” She asks interested.

“Yeah.” Clint answers.

“That’s worrying.” Simmons notes.

“So Streiten said.” Clint comments, “But he also said that her other injuries are healing well, it seems like the only main concern at the moment are her lungs.” Clint explains.

“How are Phil and Skye doing?” Pepper ask concerned.

“Barely holding on.” Clint answers “I should get back to them.” He comments.

“Of course, let us know if you know anymore.” Ward requests.

“Of course Agent Ward.” Clint says before exiting the room.

* * *

 

After leaving the room Clint goes and gets coffee he is almost back at Melinda’s room when he sees Natasha exit Melinda’s room.

“Nat?” Clint calls after her but she doesn’t respond.  Concerned about her Clint puts the coffees down on the table outside Melinda’s room and follows her.

Natasha walks into a supply closet, Clint walks in a second after and finds her sitting on the ground crying. Without a word Clint sits down next to her and puts his arms around her pulling her into his chest.

“I’m here.” Clint says repeating the words she said to him earlier as she cries. 

* * *

 

Half an hour later Natasha and Clint re-enter Melinda’s room. Natasha not showing any sign that she had just broken down in a supply closet. When they enter the room they see a surprising sight of Coulson and Fury both standing across from each other, neither looking happy and Skye in the chair clearly unsure of what do to.

“Either you accept that we are telling you the truth or I quit.” Natasha and Clint hear Coulson say as they enter.

“I don’t like ultimatums Coulson.” Fury responds.

“It’s not an ultimatum Boss, it’s a promise.” Coulson responds.

“Fine, if that is the way you want to do this then you have an hour to leave the premises.” Fury responds.

“I wouldn’t do that Director.” Natasha says stepping forward “You let Coulson quit because of this then that is a guarantee that his entire team will also quite, that includes Clint and I, you will also be assuring that Stark cuts all ties with S.H.I.E.L.D, and the other Avengers will be right behind him. Are you prepared to lose all of us over this?” She asks.

Fury looks between Natasha and Coulson clearly un happy with the position that he is being put in. “I will find out what you are not telling me.” He says before exiting the room slamming the door behind him.

“You guys have really great timing.” Skye tells her Aunt and Uncle.

“Are you alight?” Clint asks Coulson concerned.

“Yeah, I don’t think dealing with Fury at the moment was a good idea.” Coulson comments.

“I would say so, you haven’t slept in about forty hours.” Clint answers, “You two should have another talk when things calm down a bit. He listens to you.”

“I think I just destroyed any chance of that happening again.” Coulson answers.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Clint answers “You and Fury are friends, he calls you his one good eye. You’ll get past this.”

Coulson shrugs then sits back down.

“I’m really glad you guys got back when you did.” Skye says standing up, “I’ve got to go to the bathroom, I’ll be back.” Skye says exiting the room.

“Here, drink some coffee. You look like you need it.” Clint says handing Coulson a cup of the fresh Coffee he got after leaving the closet. “But you should get some sleep at some point.” He tells his friend.

“I’m fine.” Coulson tells him.

“That doesn’t even sound like a word anymore.” Natasha comments grabbing her own cup of coffee and sitting down.

* * *

 

Instead of going to the bathroom Skye walks over to the nurses’ station, “Um hi, I need to talk to Director Fury. Do you know where I could find him?” She asks interested.

“You could try Agent Hill’s office, that’s your best shot.” The nurse responds

“Thanks. Um where could I find that?” She asks when she realises that she doesn’t know.

“All the way down the corridor, then take a left.” The nurse tells Skye.

“Thanks.” Skye says and makes her way down the corridor, when she reaches the end of the corridor she takes a deep breath and knocks knowing that it is the right choice, not sure if it her powers telling her that it is, or because she doesn’t want her Dad to lose a friend over her.

“Enter” Hill’s voice says and Skye enters and finds Hill, and like she was hoping director Fury.

“Skye?” Hill asks surprised

“They’re protecting me.” Skye says simply.

“What do you mean?” Fury asks confused.

“Dad, Uncle Clint, тетя Наташа, Mr Stark, FitzSimmons, Ward, Pepper, they are all lying to you to protect me.” She explain.

“Sit down, tell us everything.” Hill requests hiding a small smile at the fact Skye calls Natasha and Clint her Aunt and Uncle.

“Before I start I need to know that none of them will get in trouble, not Dad or any of the others. They only lied because they were trying to protect me.” Skye informs the director and Deputy Director.

Hill and Fury look at each other “They won’t be punished.” Fury answers about a minute later. “Start at the beginning.” He request.

“Thank you.” Skye answers “Mom, Dad, Uncle Clint, тетя Наташа and Mr Stark went into Quinn’s house. FItzSImmons, Pepper and I stayed behind at the plane we were on lockdown and we all had night night guns. When Dad, Uncle Clint and Mr Stark came up with the mission plane they were going to send us away but we refused to let them. They had been gone half an hour when suddenly I knew something had happened to Mom, I didn’t know how I knew I just did. I broke the lockdown and ran downstairs and took Lola.” Skye explains as she does she realises that she hasn’t gotten in trouble for that yet, not surprising considering everything.

Fury and Hill exchange looks both wondering what she meant by she knew something was wrong but they decide to wait to the end of her story before they question her.

“I was going to go on my own but Simmons got in the passenger seat she refused to let me. I flew us to Quinn’s place. On the way Stark found us and flew alongside us. When we got to the house the first person we saw was Agent Ward but he didn’t know where Mom was so I focused on the knowing feeling I had and I knew she was in the basement so we went down there.” Skye says pausing for a minute to collect herself before she remembers the sight that greeted her when she entered the basement “We found Mom on the floor bleeding out, Dad was on one side of her and тетя Наташа was on the other. Uncle Clint grabbed me stoping me from going to her and Simmons rushed to her side. Seconds after we got there тетя Наташа said that she stopped breathing, so her and Simmons started CPR but they stopped after just a few second because Simmons realised that there wasn’t enough blood left to circulate.” Skye says pausing once more to collect herself and Fury and Hill become more confused with the more Skye says, “I broke free of the hold Uncle Clint had on me and I ran to her side. I refused to let her die, I put my hand on her chest and she started breathing again and her injuries stoped getting worse.” Skye explains to Fury’s and Hill’s shock, “I collapsed and I didn’t know how I brought her back to about an hour later. Simmons discovered that the levels of electrical activity in my brain are astronomical, and I, guess looked inside of myself would be the best way to explain it and found out what I did. I pushed some of that excess electrical activity form me into Mom, like a supercharge Defibrillator I brought her back, and for four hours I prevented her injuries from getting worse by feeding that excess into her, making me weaker as I did, that’s why I’ve been sleeping so much. Dr Streiten is right, Mom should be dead, she did die, for thirty seconds she was dead, and I brought her back.” Skye says tears once again forming in her eyes, “They are all lying to you to protect me, they were worried about what S.H.I.E.L.D, would do, what you would do to me if you found out what I did. Especially considering I still have no idea how to control what I can do.” Skye explains “Dad respects you, both of you, and considers you his friends, and I knew that telling you was the right choice, and I’m not entirely convinced that it’s my power telling me that.” Skye explains and then braces herself for Fury and Hill’s reaction.

“Let’s go see your father.” Fury comments, “Maria, you as well.” He tells the assistant director, Hill nods and the three leave the office.

* * *

 

A couple of minutes later Skye, Fury, and Hill enter Melinda’s room to find Coulson, Natasha and Clint all sitting in ‘their’ seats.

“Director, what is it?” Clint asks when they walk in hoping that there isn’t going to be another fight between Coulson and the director.

“Skye told me everything.” Fury says looking directly at Coulson.

“Kid?” Clint asks shocked. “Why would you do that?”  

“Because I knew it was the right choice.” Skye responds.

“Knew as in knew, knew?” Coulson asks surprised and concerned about what Fury’s reaction is going to be.

“Not sure, but I don’t think so.” Skye answers.

“Sir, we, I, can explain.” Coulson tells his boss and friend.

“Twenty five years ago you allowed me to be the first person after you and Melinda to hold you daughter and when I did I assigned myself to be her protector, a job that I have failed at.” Fury explains, “No one else will know what she has done, those in this room and your team, Stark and Pepper will be the only ones. I will not allow her to be used as an experiment to find out just what she is capable of and what she can be used to do. The council will never know.” He reveals.

“Thank you Sir.” Coulson says gratefully.

“That being said, Skye you should learn to control these ability, learn what you can do, for your own sake.” The Director tells Skye.

“FitzSimmons already agreed to help me Sir.” Skye reveals.

“Good.” Fury responds, “I believe she could also benefit from the help of the two of you.” He says looking at Natasha and Clint.

“Of course Sir.” Natasha and Clint respond.

“I’m sorry Phil.” Fury tells his friend, “If I knew how close you had come to loosing Melinda I would have handled things differently.”

“Thank you Sir.” Coulson responds.

Fury nods and he leaves the room.

“I’ll make sure he sticks to that, and I’ve had all cameras disabled in here and the conference room your team is in for the past three hours and they will remain off, you can talk freely” Hill says before following Fury out.

“Do you know how risky that was Skye?” Coulson asks his daughter.

“It didn’t feel like a risk.” Skye answers “I just knew that I didn’t want you to lose a friend because you were protecting me.” Skye tells her father walking over and sitting down next to him.

“Skye Coulson you are one of a kind.” Clint tells the girl fondly.

“May Skye Philippa Coulson.” Skye corrects.

“What?” Coulson asks shocked.

“My name.” Skye tells her father “it’s May Skye Philippa Coulson, but because most people call Mom May I’ll still go by Skye, but that’s my name, it’s who I am.” Skye tells her father. “That’s if it’s okay with you and Mom.” She tells her father.

“It’s more than okay.” Coulson says hugging his daughter “But are you sure May Skye? Why not Skye May?” he asks curious as Natasha and Clint watch the pair managing to have small smiles on their faces despite all the bad that is going on.

“May Skye sounds better, and I want the name you and Mom gave me to be my first, a lot of people go by their middle names so it’s not that uncommon.” Skye explains. “Do you think Mom will like it?”

“I think she will love it.” Coulson tells his daughter and Skye snuggles into his side and the pair continue to watch Melinda.

 

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	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Twelve hours later Natasha and Clint get a shock when they look over to Coulson and Skye and see that Coulson is actually asleep, so is Skye, but it’s the fact that Coulson is which is so surprising.

“About time.” Clint comments.

“Now if only we can get him to change.” Natasha comments.

“I think that would be even more of a miracle.” Clint comments. “Can you handle things here? There’s something I want to do.”

“Sure.” She answers, “What do you want to do?” Natasha asks curious.

“Well for one check in one the others, and for the other I’m going to ask Hill for her help in getting Skye all official documents, a licence, a passport, everything. I realised earlier that she must not have any. I think she would like to have some.” Clint explains as one of the things he and Skye has talked about is how she has never felt like she belonged anywhere because she didn’t know who she was.

“Yeah, I think she will.” Natasha comments “Go, I’ve got them, just bring….” Natasha begins to say but Clint cuts her off.

“Coffee, I know.” Clint says and exits the room.

* * *

 

Clint’s first trip after leaving the room is to head to the conference room, as he walks he realises that it must be night time as there is hardly no one around, not that it really matters the only time that matters is how long Melinda has been unconscious for.

When he enters the conference room he sees that the only person awake is Tony. Ward is asleep on his chair. FitzSimmons are asleep lying next to each other, very close, on the floor, and Pepper is asleep on the couch.  Not wanting to wake anyone else up Clint signals to Tony to come outside which he does.

“What happened?” He asks Clint concerned.

“Nothing.” Clint answers “Well unless you count Phil falling asleep as something.” He corrects.

“I consider that a miracle.” Tony comments, “If nothing’s happened then why are you here?” he asks as the last update someone came to give was to explain what happened between Fury and Skye.

“I just came to see how everyone was doing before going to see Hill.” Clint explains.

“Why are you going to see Hill?” Tony asks interested.

“I need her help” Clint explains “Skye said earlier that she wants to start to go by a slightly modified version of her birth name, I want Hill’s help to get Skye all the real official documents for that.” Clint explains.

“Do you think now is a good time to do that?” Tony asks curious.

“When you’ve never had a home or even known your name or birthday, having things that say them mean a lot.” Clint explains.

“I’ll come, I don’t really feel like sleeping.” Stark comments.

“Really?” Clint asks surprised.

“From what I know that kid hasn’t had an easy time in her life, and now this. She deserves something good, if you say this is something that will mean a lot to her then I want to help.” Tony answers.

“You looked into her?” Clint asks surprised as the pair begin their walk to Hill’s office.

“I tried to, didn’t have much luck.” Tony answers “But I’ve found out a few things.” He answers and the things he has found makes him worried about the girl, and after what he has seen and the comment she made to him when they first got to the base he realised that she reminds him of himself.

Clint nods not surprised that Stark didn’t have much luck as Skye told him that she has deleted her history.

* * *

 

A few hours later Skye wakes up but Coulson remains sleeping.

“Has anything changed?” Skye asks Natasha and Clint quietly when she realises that her Dad is asleep.

“No.” Natasha answers “Doctor Streiten had to increase her oxygen for a while but her levels are back up.” She explains.

Skye nods. “How long has he been asleep for?” She asks curious.

“A few hours.” Clint answers.

“That’s good, he needs some sleep.” Skye comments.

“He also needs a shower and to change his clothes.” Natasha comments.

“That’s not going to happen to Mom’s awake.” Skye comments.

“That could still be days.” Clint comments as all of them think or not at all.

“The only person on this earth who could get Dad to leave Mom’s side right now is Mom.” Skye tells them, “You both know that.”

“Yeah we do.” Clint answers.

“You know you need a shower and to get changed as well.” Natasha tells Skye.

“I know.” Skye admits.  

“Why don’t you go back to the plane, have a shower, grab something to eat.” Natasha suggest.

“I don’t want to leave, not when Mom could wake at any time.” Skye tells Clint and Natasha.

“It will still be another twelve hours at least.” Clint tells her, “Doctor Streiten said she won’t wake for at least twenty four hours, it’s only been twelve.”

“Yeah, okay, I guess I could go.” Skye comments though she still sounds hesitant.

“I’ll come with you. I need to stretch my legs.” Natasha comments.

Skye nods in response, “If Dad wakes tell him I won’t be long.” Skye tells Clint.

“Of course.” Clint responds and Natasha and Skye leaves.

“Looks like it’s just the three of us.” Clint comments as he puts his feet up on Natasha’s chair.

* * *

 

“How are you feeling?” Natasha asks Skye curious once they reach the plane.

“Stronger.” Skye answers.

“Any lasting effects?”

“Not really, I still feel weaker than I should, like I’m really overtired but apart from that I feel fine.” Skye answers.

“Good.” Natasha answers.

“How about you?” Skye asks curious “You did take a bullet too.”

“I’m fine.” Natasha answers.

“Is that the same fine Dad’s been saying he is or are you really fine?” Skye asks curious.

“I’m really fine.” Natasha assures.

“Good.” Skye answers as they enter the second level of the plane.

* * *

 

An hour later Natasha and Skye are back in Melinda’s room and an hour after that Coulson wakes.

“Mel?” He asks as soon as he wakes.

“Still the same.” Clint answers, “No changes.”

“Has her oxygen levels gone down again?” He ask worried looking at the monitors.

“They did once, but Streiten just increased her oxygen again and they went up again.” Natasha answers. “He’s decreased it again and she’s fine.”

“You should have woken me.” Coulson tells his friends.

“You needed sleep, if something serious had happened or if her oxygen levels didn’t increase again within a few minutes then we would have woken you, but nothing happen happened and her levels were fine in a couple of minutes so there was no point.” Natasha tells him.

“You really needed sleep Phil, and we’re are not going to apologise for letting you get it.” Clint tells his friend as Coulson checks his watch to see how long he has been asleep for.

* * *

 

Coulson isn’t the only one who is waking up. In the conference room the rest of the team and Stark and Pepper have awoken to the breakfast that Hill organized for them.

“Have there been any updates?” Ward asks.

“Clint was here a few hours ago, there’s no change.” Tony answers.

“She should wake soon right? That’s what the Doctor said.” Fitz comments.

“In a few hours the sedation will be completely out of her system so she can, but it could be days before she does.” Simmons explains.

“Or not at all.” Tony comments.

“Yes, that’s still a possibility.” Simmons confirms.

“I don’t think Coulson and Skye could handle it if she didn’t.” Ward comments.

“Clint said that Coulson was sleeping.” Tony informs the others wanting to give them the only tiny bit off good news that he has.

“That’s good, it had been what fifty hours since he last slept?” Fitz comments

“Something like that.” Ward answers.

“I feel so useless.” Simmons reveals. “I wish there was something we could do to help them.”

“We’re here for them, that’s all we can do.” Pepper tells the young scientist who she has gotten close to in the last few days.

“I know, I just feel so useless.” Simmons comments.

“You’re the furthest thing from useless Jemma.” Fitz tells his friend.

* * *

 

Five hours later, it has been twenty four since Melinda’s sedation has been reversed and Dr Streiten is in Melinda’s room doing another check.

“How is she?” Coulson asks once he is finished his exam.

“Apart from the continuing fluctuations in her oxygen levels everything is good, amazingly so.” Streiten informs Coulson.

“Is that a concern? Her oxygen levels?” Coulson asks worried.

“Yes.” Streiten answers “But as she is reacting positively to the increase levels of oxygen it’s not as much of a problem as it could be, but they still need to be monitored closely.” Streiten comments.

“Does that mean she’s going to wake up soon?” Skye asks.

“From these signs she could wake at any time, or it could be several days. There is no way to tell.” Streiten explains.

“And what if she doesn’t wake now that the sedation is worn off?” Clint asks.

“That could mean any one of a lot of things.” Streiten answers “None of which we have to be concerned about right now. Because she is on pain medication that could also affect when she wakes.” Streiten explains. “I will decrease her medication slightly but that also means that she will be in pain when she wakes.” Streiten explains.

“Then why lower her pain mediation?” Skye asks.

“Because it is acting similar to a sedative at the moment. Once she is wake her pain medication will be increased again if needed which means she will sleep more.” Streiten explains and Coulson, Skye, Clint and Natasha nod.

“Thank you Doctor.” Coulson tells her.

“I’ll be back in half an hour.” Streiten informs him before leaving.

“Is it your turn or mine for a coffee run?” Clint asks Natasha curious.

“I’ll go.” Natasha informs him.

“Let me.” Skye says getting up.

“You sure?” Clint asks surprised as Skye has been leaving her mother’s side a few times as possible.

“Yeah.” Skye says leaving the room.

“I think it’s still hard for her to see Melinda like this.” Coulson explains as he knows it’s hard for him to see Melinda like this it must be just as hard if not more so for Skye.

“Not surprising.” Natasha comments.

* * *

 

When Skye finds the Coffee machine she finds it broken.

“Dam it.” Skye says angrily “Why can’t anything work, come on you stupid thing, work.” Skye says hitting the coffee machine with her plastered arm.

“Ouch.” Skye says before turning so that she is back facing the wall, which she slides down and just sits on the ground holding her arm, looking down, doing her best to stop the tears that are threatening to fall.

“Skye?” Simmons voice as concerned.

Skye looks up surprised and she sees Simmons, Ward and Fitz walking towards her.

“Are you alright?” Simmons asks concerned as she kneels down on Skye’s left side.

“Yes, no, I don’t know.” Skye responds.

“Well those are three answers.” Ward comments as he kneels on her right side.

“You need to learn better jokes.” Fitz comments as he kneels in font of Skye.

“You need to learn to appreciate jokes.” Ward responds.

“Guys, not now.” Simmons tells them.

“No, it’s okay.” Skye assures her, “I could use a classic FitzWard fight to distract me at the moment.” She comments.

“How’s your Mum?” Simmons asks concerned.

“The same.” Skye answers, “Don’t know when she’ll wake up or even if she will. Her oxygen levels keep changing, Dad’s falling apart. Uncle Clint and тетя Наташа are trying to be there for us, but Mom like this is hurting them too, and I just want her to be okay.” Skye says tears coming to her eyes once again.

FitzSimmons and Ward don’t say anything because they don’t know what they can say, so instead in Unison the three of them lean forward and put their arms around Skye which becomes a group hug with Skye in the middle.

When then finally break apart a few minutes later Skye looks at them, “A year ago I didn’t have a family, and I never thought I would, but now I do, and I don’t just mean my parents. Thank you for being my family.” Skye tells them.

“No, thank you for being ours.” Simmons says and the two girls hug again.

“So because of the fact that you were hitting the coffee maker I’m guessing you were on a coffee run.” Ward comments when Simmons and Skye break apart.

“Yeah.” Skye answers.

“Then come on Rookie, there’s another coffee maker not that far away.” He tells her standing up and sticking out his hand.

“Thanks.” Skye says grabbing his hand and Ward pulls her up and into a hug which makes Simmons and Fitz’s smile.

“You’re stuck with us now.” Fitz comments.

“Thanks Fitz.” Skye tells him.

“To coffee.” Simmons say and her and Fitz leave the room.

“He’s right you know, there is no getting rid of us now.” Ward tells Skye.

“I’m glad.” Skye tells him.                                               

“I’m glad you’re glad.” Ward says looking at Skye.

Neither sure who moves fist but Ward leans down and Skye stretches up and their lips meet and the pair exchange their first kiss. It is tender and sweet and lasts a couple of minutes before they break apart.

“We should go get the Coffee, Uncle Clint and тетя Наташа will send out a search party if I’m not back soon.” Skye comments.

“Right, good point.” Ward comments knowing that it is something that they would do.

“So lead the way.” Skye tells Ward not letting go of his hand.

* * *

 

Ten minutes later Ward re-enters the conference room.

“You’re an idiot.” Tony says walking over to Ward as soon as he enters.  

“Hello to you too.” Ward says confused.

“Kissing the daughter of S.H.I.E.L.D’s favourite agent in a building that is full of security cameras. Could you do anything more stupid?” Tony asks him.

“Who saw?” Ward asks slightly worried hoping that it was Barton because at least he has already threatened him.

 “Director Fury.” Tony answers, “Considering her considers himself to be her protector, he’s not the person you want seeing you kiss her.”

“Oh.” Ward says slightly worried.

“Do you have any idea what you are getting yourself into?” Tony asks.

“Um…” Ward says not exactly sure if he does know.

“Let me spell it out to you.” Tony tells him “Her parents are two of S.H.I.E.L.D’s best agents, two of the world’s best scientists consider her to be their little sister, her unofficial godfather is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, her Aunt and Uncle are the two best assassins in the world, and a team of superheros see her as one of our own.” Tony reveals “If you hurt that girl at all there will be no safe place in this world or any other for you to hide.” Tony tells him because he is sure that if Ward hurts Skye, Thor would hunt him down if they asked. “Remember that.” He tells him.

“Yes Sir.” Ward responds.

“Glad we understand each other.” Tony comments before returning to go and sit down next to Pepper and Ward lets out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding.

* * *

 

When Skye heads back to her Mother’s room, still thinking about the kiss with Ward, she gets worried when she sees Natasha waiting outside.

“What happened? Is Mom okay?” Skye asks worried as she runs towards Natasha, doing her best not too spill the coffee she has as she does.

“Your mother’s fine.” Natasha assures her.

“Then why are you waiting out here?” Skye asks confused.

“I’m waiting for you actually.” Natasha answers.

“Why?” Skye asks confused.

“Because Clint and I just had an interesting chat with Maria.” Natasha answers.

“About?” Skye asks confused.

“You kissing Agent Ward in a break room.”

“How did she know about that? It happen like ten minutes ago.” Skye says shocked.

“This is S.H.I.E.L.D ребенок, there are camera’s everywhere, and you’re a Coulson. Fury and Hill have been keeping an eye on you.” Natasha explains.

“Fury saw too?” Skye asks worried.

“Yep.” Natasha answers.

“What’s he going to do to Ward?” Skye asks worried.

“Nothing.” Natasha answers “Unless he hurts you then he will have to deal with a lot more than just Fury.” She explains.

“тетя Наташа.” Skye says.

“It’s the rule ребенок, we won’t let anyone get away with hurting you.” Natasha tells her.

“I’ve never had people look out for me like that before.” Skye reveals touched by the overprotectiveness of everyone but at the same time feeling like she doesn’t deserve it.

“Now you do.” Natasha promises her, “I don’t know about you but I think you should wait a while to tell your Dad about this newest development, at least until he’s had more than a few hours’ sleep in several days, what do you think?”

“That that sounds good.” Skye tells Natasha putting the coffee down on the table so she can give Natasha a hug “Thank you тетя Наташа.” Skye tells her.

“No need ребенок. “ Natasha responds and once the pair break apart they both head back into Melinda’s room.

* * *

 

The next twenty four hours pass in much the same way as the previous. As Skye knows there is a chance that her Mother could wake at any time she doesn’t leave her side unless she has to go to the bathroom. Even though she knows that she has to talk to Ward about everything she doesn’t want to risk not being there where her Mom wakes so she doesn’t move from next to her Dad.

As every hour passes Coulson becomes more worried that Melinda isn’t going to wake up, even though every time Dr Streiten preforms one of his checks he assures Coulson that everything it okay and that the fact that Melinda hasn’t woken yet is nothing to worry about he can’t help but do just that.

“We’ve got to do something, he has been by her side for over seventy hours and in that suit for over eighty. He’s a mess.” Clint says quietly to Natasha not loud enough for Skye or Coulson to hear as since Melinda has been hurt Coulson is the only person who hasn’t changed his clothes or showed, the only one who hasn’t left her side unless he absolutely had to.

“If you’ve got any idea of how we can get him to leave then please share.” Natasha requests.

“We could tell him about Ward, I’m betting that would get him up.” Clint comments.

“In his current state its possibly he would kill Ward.” Natasha points out.

“Good point.” Clint realises. “Think Fury ordering him will work?” he asks thinking that is unlikely but wanting Natasha’s opinion anyway.

“Considering he has already threatened to quit once, no.” Natasha responds.

“There has to be something that could get him to go have a shower and change out of that suit.” Clint comments.

“There is, Melinda.” Natasha tells him.

“The one thing we don’t have at the moment.” Clint comments looking up at his sister.

“She’ll wake soon, she has too.” Natasha comments as she will not accept any other option.

“I hope you’re right.” Clint tells his partner.

Like his friend Coulson is thinking the same thing that Melinda has to wake up because he won’t accept any other outcome.

* * *

 

Twelve hours later and Coulson is the only one in the room awake, he is standing right by Melinda’s side holding her hand while Natasha, Clint and Skye sleep in their respective chairs.

“Mel, if you can hear me then please wake up.” Coulson requests. “Please, open your eyes, for me please.” Coulson requests.

For more than ten minutes there is no sign that Melinda is any closer to a waking. Coulson is back sitting down next to Skye when he hears what sounds like a groan of pain coming from Melinda.

“Melinda?” Coulson asks getting up so quickly that he wakes Skye.

“Dad?” Skye asks confused.

“Melinda, can you hear me?” Coulson asks once he’s at Melinda’s side and he receives another groan in response.

“Hey I’m right here, open your eyes for me, Please Mel. Open your eyes.” Coulson requests as Skye who realises what is happening rashes to her father’s side.

“Phil?” Melinda asks clearly in pain as she opens her eye.

 

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	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** Thank you all so much. This chapter is what you’ve all been waiting for Melinda is awake.

* * *

 

“HI.” Coulson say so thankful that she has finally woken.

“Skye?” Melinda asks seeing her daughter.

“Yeah Mom, I’m here.” Skye says a tear of joy coming to her eye.

“Tasha, okay?” Melinda asks struggling with each word because she remembers Tasha getting hurt as well.

“She’s fine.” Coulson assures Melinda as Skye picks up the two pillows that are on the seat her and Coulson sit on and throws them at Natasha and Clint to wake them up.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again.” Coulson tells Melinda as Clint and Natasha wake up.

“What’s going on?” Clint asks confused about why he just got hit by a pillow.  

“Mom’s awake.” Skye tells him and him and Natasha rushes to Melinda’s side.

“神琳達你是絕不允許這樣做了。我的意思是，當我說，我需要你，你需要我一樣多。”Natasha tells her friend.

“Try English please.” Melinda requests as she doesn’t think she will be able to correctly translate Chinese at the moment.

“God Linda you are never allowed to do that again. I meant it when I said that I’ve needed you just as much as you've needed me.” Natasha says to Melinda too quiet for either Coulson or Skye to hear.

Melinda doesn’t say anything in response she just gives her friend a small smile and reaches out and grabs her hand.

“I’ll go get the Doc.” Clint says rushing out of the room.

“How bad?” Melinda asks looking away from Natasha and to Coulson and Skye.

“We don’t need to talk about that now, all that matters is that you are awake.” Coulson tells her knowing that Melinda needs to know what happened but now isn’t the time.

“Tasha?” Melinda asks looking back at her friend, being able to tell even with how hurt she is and how much pain she is in that there is something important that Coulson isn’t telling her.

“Phil’s right, later.” Natasha tells her friend

“I hear our patient is finally awake.” Dr Streiten says walking in with Clint.

“Finally?” Melinda asks confused “How long?” She asks Coulson.

“It’s been ninety five hours, fifteen minutes since you were hit.” Coulson answers without even needing to think about it.

“Can you three give us a few minutes?” Dr Streiten says to Skye, Clint and Natasha knowing better than attempting to get Coulson to leave.

“Of course, we’ll be right outside.” Natasha responds and the three of them, Skye reluctantly, leave.

* * *

 

As soon as Skye, Clint and Natasha are outside the room Skye happily throws her arms around her Aunt and Uncle.

“She’s awake.” Skye says relieved.

“Yeah she is.” Clint comments.

“I should go tell the others.” Skye says ending the hug “I’ll be right back.” She says before running off.

“DON’T RUN.” Clint and Natasha yell after her as Skye almost runs right into an Agent.  

Natasha and Clint just look at each other and surprising both herself and Clint Natasha kisses him.

“Um, wow wasn’t expecting that.” Clint comments when they break apart.

“Good surprise or bad?” Natasha asks and instead of answering Clint just kisses her back.

* * *

 

“Mom’s awake.” Skye asks running into the conference room, almost straight into the table.

“Kid, I think you should cut down on your coffee.” Tony tells her.

“Only Uncle Clint can call me kid.” Skye tells him before she realises what she is saying her tone isn’t mad or annoyed just stating a fact.

“Okay then, She-Coulson you should cut down on your coffee.” Tony corrects understanding that she doesn’t want anyone but Clint to call her kid because form what he has seen the two of them are close.

“Much better.” Skye says with a smile as for a long time she has associated nicknames with family, friendship and love, all the things she never thought she would have, so the fact that all her parents’ friends have given her a nickname means a lot “Mom’s awake.” She repeats.

“We heard, that’s great.” Ward tells her.

“What’s the Doctor saying?” Simmons asks interested.

“Not sure, he’s in with her now. He asked us to give him a few minutes with her.” Skye explains.

“Phil still with her?” Pepper asks curious.

“Of course. He knew how long she had been unconscious for without even having to think about it.” Skye informs the others.

“Not surprising.” Fitz comments.

“I’ve got to get back.” Skye says “Just thought I would let you know she’s awake.” Skye says quickly rushing forward and giving Ward a quick kiss before running out of the room again.

* * *

 

“Okay so Melinda, everything looks good here.” Dr Streiten says surprised that Melinda is awake and doing so well when he didn’t expect her to survive, “Are you in any pain?” He asks worried and Melinda nods.

“On a scale of one to ten how is your pain?”  Dr Streiten asks curious.

“7.” Melinda answers.

“Which means eight or nine.” Coulson corrects knowing that Melinda downplays her pain.

“I’ll increase your pain medication and once you’re a bit more awake we will discuss your recovery.” Streiten informs Melinda who nods.

“Do you have any question?” He asks.

“No.” Melinda responds having a feeling that the questions she had only Coulson can answer.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes to give that medication.” Dr Streiten says before exiting.

“Phil, did I die?” Melinda asks as the door opens and Clint and Natasha entre just in time to hear her question.

Coulson looks at Clint and Natasha asking for their help because he doesn’t know how to answer, what he should or shouldn’t say, because even though after what he went through he knows that he has to tell her the truth he doesn’t know where to start.

“Yeah Mels, you did.” Clint says walking over to his sister as Natasha stays by the door making sure Dr Streiten or anyone else who doesn’t know the truth doesn’t come in.

“What did you do?” Melinda asks Coulson as she knew that she did but she wanted it to be confirmed.

“Nothing.” Coulson answers, “It was Skye.”

“What?” Melinda asks surprised clearly struggling to stay awake.

“She has powers.” Coulson answers, “From what Simmons found out and what she did, she has a very very high level of electrical activity in her brain. She knew something had happened to you so she broke lockdown and her and Simmons followed us. When they got to us Simmons tried to help Natasha and I help you, but you had lost too much blood. You stopped breathing and CPR was no good because you didn’t have enough blood left, Skye told you that you weren’t allowed to die and she put her hand on your chest. She pushed some of the excesses electrical activity she has out of her and into you. Skye brought you back and for four hours kept you alive, which gave the doctors a chance to keep treat your injuries.” Coulson explains.

“Is she okay?” Melinda asks worried.

“She was week for a while and has been sleeping a lot but she has assured us that she is fine.” Natasha explains.

“How long?” She asks.

“Thirty seconds.” Coulson answers.

Melinda nods and her eyes drift open and closed once more, “Get some more sleep, we’ll be here.” Coulson promises.

“I didn’t see a beautiful place.” Melinda informs Coulson knowing that he will know what she is talking about.

“What?” Coulson asks surprised as Clint and Natasha exchange a confused look having no idea what Melinda is talking about.

“I saw you and Skye.” Melinda explains, “That was my place.” She says as the door opens and Skye walks back in and over next to her father at her mother’s side.

“How you feeling?” Skye asks worried.

“Fine.” Melinda answers.

“Try again, тетя Наташа banned the use of that as answer to how are you feeling or how are you about six hours ago.” Skye informs her mother.

“I’m okay.” Melinda manages to say clearly struggling even more to stay awake.

“I love you Mom, get some sleep.” Skye says as, being as careful as possible she bends down and gives Melinda a hug.

“Love you.” Melinda responds before falling asleep.

“You should get some sleep to.” Skye tells her father.

“I’m fi-alright.” He corrects remembering Natasha’s new rule.

“No you’re not.” Skye responds.

“I second that.” Clint comments.

“Third.” Natasha adds.

“Forth.” Dr Streiten comments walking in with Melinda’s pain medication.

“Doc, what did you mean you need to talk to Melinda about her recovery?” Coulson asks curious ignoring his daughters and Friends concern.

“It was my recommendation and Dr Fury has approved it that Melinda isn’t allowed in the field for six weeks after she leaves here, that’s including just being on the plane.” Streiten explains.

“She’s really not going to like that.” Natasha comments.

“No she’s not.” Coulson confirms as Streiten administers the medication and Skye, Coulson, Natasha and Clint sit back down in their seats.

* * *

 

Twelve hours later Melinda wakes up once more and this time Coulson is the only one asleep instead of awake.

“Hey.” Skye says when she realises her Mother is awake.

“Hi.” Melinda responds clearly more awake than she was earlier.

“Dad.” Skye says quietly.

“No, don’t wake him.” Melinda tells her daughter, “He looks like he could use it.”

“You have no idea.” Clint comments.

“Is that the same suit as the one he was wearing we when went on the mission?” Melinda asks pretty sure that it is but wanting to be sure.

“Yep.” Natasha answers “He’s only left your side to go to the bathroom. No one could get him to leave to do anything else.” She explains. “Believe me we tried.” she adds.

Melinda looks worriedly at Coulson but doesn’t say anything.

“How are you feeling?” Skye asks worried as she walks over and sits on the side of her Mothers bed

“Okay.” Melinda answers, “Can you raise the back a little?”

“Um, I think the remotes on the other side.” Skye comments looking around for it.

“I’ve got it.” Clint comments finding it. “How up do you want?” he asks.

“Just a little bit.” Melinda answers as she attempts to remove the nasal oxygen she’s got on because even though she has only been up a couple of minute’s its annoying her.

“Don’t.” Clint, Natasha and Skye say together when they see what she is attempting to do.

“You’re oxygen levels keep changing, you need to keep that on. No matter how annoying it is.” Clint tells her as he raises the bed for her.

“I was hit three times right?” Melinda asks looking at Natasha.

“Yeah.” Natasha answers “One bullet nicked the artery in your left shoulder, another your lung and a third your liver.” Natasha explains “The bullet that hit your lung is why you are, and have to stay on oxygen, and the one that hit your liver is the one that is the reason why you can’t drink alcohol until it regenerates itself.” Natasha explains. “But Dr Streiten will explain more.”

Melinda nods, “Phil’s not a deep sleeper how is he still asleep?” Melinda asks looking at Clint and Natasha as she has a feeling that they are behind it, because she was pretty sure that Coulson would wake up by now from their talking.

“He’s barely slept.” Clint comments “He won’t leave your side so we did what we had to do.”

“You drugged him.” Melinda realises.

“Technically.” Clint answers. “But it for his own good.”

“Has he been eating at least?” Melinda asks worried.

“Yeah, we’ve made sure of that.” Natasha answers. “It was the only thing we could make him do.” She tells him and Melinda nods.

“What about you? Please tell me you’ve been looking after yourself a lot better than your Father.” Melinda tells her daughter a couple of minutes later.

“Yep. The fact that I have actually showed and changed my clothes means I have.” Skye tells her mother. “I’m okay, and even better now that you’re awake.” Skye assure her.

“Are the team okay?” She asks interested.

“Yeah they’re okay.” Clint answers, “Hill gave them a room and they’ve been with Stark and Pepper.”

“Stark stuck around?” Melinda asks surprised.

“Yeah, he and Pepper were worried about you.” Natasha tells her.

“Wow.” Melinda comments surprised.

“Stark actually flew you back to the bus.” Clint informs her.

“Really?” Melinda asks surprised.

“Yep. Stark flew you and Simmons back and Coulson took Skye in Lola because she passed out.” Clint explains.

“How did that car get there?” Melinda asks confused “And why did you pass out?” she asks Skye worried.

“Um, I flew Lola to Quinn’s with Simmons and I passed out after what I did.” Skye says uncertainly not sure how much her mother knows.

“I thought you said she was fine after what she did.” Melinda says to Natasha.

“Wait, you know?” Skye asks surprised.

“I knew I died last time I woke up.” Melinda tells her daughter, “You’re Dad and Your Aunt and Uncle explained everything to me.”

“Oh.” Skye says not sure what else to say “It wasn’t amazing and happy, right? I didn’t take you away from something perfect did I?” Skye asks worried.

“I saw you and your Dad.” Melinda tells her daughter, “Some of the happy times we’ve had together. Yes it was nice seeing it, but you brought be back so we can have more.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“So you’re not mad?” Skye asks.

“No.” Melinda responds and the mother and Daughter embrace. “Now I want the truth, what you did didn’t hurt you did it?”

“No.” Skye answers, “It just made me weak like I was ridiculously over tied, that’s why I collapsed. тетя Наташа was telling the truth, I’m fine. Absolutely no long term effects.” Skye assures her mother.

“Are you sure?” Melinda asks.

“Positive.” Skye answers.

“Who knows what?” Melinda asks Clint and Natasha.

“Everyone who was on the plane plus Fury and Hill are the only ones who know.” Clint answers, “We weren’t going to tell Fury or Hill anything at first but then Fury and Coulson had a fight that turned ugly and Skye took it upon herself to tell him everything and now the truth will just say between us. Not even the council or Doctor Streiten will know what Skye did, and Fury says he will not let Skye be used.” He explains.

“Maria said she will make him stick to that.” Natasha adds.

“Good.” Melinda answers glad that her daughter will not be used, “How did you know something was wrong in the first place?” Melinda asks curious.

“I just knew.” Skye answers. “Still not sure how but I know it must have something to do with the electrical activity in my brain. FitzSimmons are going to help me figure it out.” Skye explains and Melinda nods then realises something Clint said.

“What do you mean Phil and Fury had a fight that turned ugly?” She asks worried.

“Nothing you need to worry about at the moment.” Clint tells her sister.

“Clinton Barton, what aren’t you telling me?” Melinda asks and Natasha smiles because Clint knows Melinda is pissed at him when she calls him by his fall name.

“Coulson threatened, no sorry promised, to quit if Fury didn’t accept that the lie we came up with was the truth. Fury was close to evicting Phil off the premises then Nat stepped in to stop either of those things from happening.” Clint explains.

“Thank you.” Melinda tells Natasha.

“Always.” Natasha responds.

“What else has happened?” Melinda asks feeling like she needs to play catch up.

“Well we’re currently unclear about whether Quinn is alive or dead.” Clint comments.

“What do you mean?” Melinda asks interested and Clint begins to explain the story. Part way through the story Coulson starts to stir and by the end he is awake.

“Mel.” He says realising she is awake, “How long have you been awake for?” He asks.

“Not long.” Melinda answers.

“Why didn’t anyone wake me?” Coulson asks looking at Clint, Natasha and Skye.

“We should let the others come and say hello.” Clint comments avoiding Coulson’s question, “They’ve been waiting for this for a few days.” He comments.

“Bring everyone at once Uncle Clint.” Skye tells her Uncle “I think we can get away with breaking the visitor rule for a couple of minutes, maybe longer.” She comments.

“I think so too.” Clint comments and then leaves the room.

“How are you feeling?” Coulson asks Melinda.

“Good, much better than before.” Melinda answers.

“Good.” Coulson says, “I love you Mel, so much.” Coulson tells her.

“I love you too.” Melinda respond and the pair kiss and instead of making a comment Sky watches with a fond smile as even a day ago she was worried she would never see her parents together like this again.

“Okay can I vote that you two stop this whole dying thing?” Skye asks her parents once they break apart “I don’t think any of us could take this again.”

“I think that it is something that we will do our best not to let happen again.” Coulson comments and Melinda nods.

“Good, I’m glad.” Skye tells her parents and the three hug. “Come on тетя Наташа, you too.” Skye says about a minute later.

“I’m quite alright watching you three.” Natasha comments.

“Not good enough, come on.” Skye says getting up and walking over to Natasha and dragging her into the hug, something that wasn’t too difficult to do because Natasha didn’t put up a fight.

About a minute later the door opens Clint, the team, Pepper and Stark walk in all amused by the sight that greats them.

“I wouldn’t.” Clint says quietly to Stark who looks like he is about to make a comment.

“It’s so hard, not to.” He responds.

“Resist.” Pepper instructs.

“I’m really glad you’re okay Agent May.” Simmons comments.

“Thanks Simmons” Melinda responds and for several minutes the group talk, mainly about how glad they are that Melinda is doing better, until the door opens and Dr Streiten walks in followed by Fury and Hill.

“Because Melinda has just woken up I am going to temporarily forget about the visitor rule but I will quickly remember again in ten minutes.” Dr Streiten comments.

“Thank you.” Skye comments.

“Melinda how are you feeling?” Fury asks interested.

“Okay Sir.” Melinda answers though truthfully she doesn’t like all the attention on her.

“Now along with Director Fury and Agent Hill I am here to talk to you about your recovery and what it means.” Dr Streiten informs Melinda.

“Does he really need The Director and The Assistant director for that?” Tony asks Clint interested.

“When he’s banning Melinda May from any field work including the bus for six weeks he does.” Clint whispers back.

“Now do you want everyone to leave or are you happy for them to hear?” Dr Streiten asks curious.

“It’s fine, they can stay.” Melinda comments knowing that everyone in the room will find out within the hour anyway.

“Okay.” Dr Streiten says “First depending on hour you heal I would say you’ve got another week in here, then after that six weeks of recovery time.” He reveals. 

“Which means no field work correct?” Melinda asks.

“That is correct but it also means that you can’t even be on the bus as a passenger.” Dr Streiten reveals and those who knew it were coming brace themselves for the explosion.

“Why not?” Melinda asks her voice deathly calm, “Phil was able to recover on the bus, so was Skye.” She points out.

“Their injuries weren’t as severe as yours. Apart from the journey to take you home you are not allowed on the bus for six weeks after your discharge from here.” Dr Streiten informs Melinda.

“I don’t have a home, I sublet my apartment when I joined the team. All of my stuff is in storage.” Melinda reveals.

“Dad you have a place me and Mom can stay at right?” Skye asks.

“Me and You?” Melinda asks surprised.

“Of course you don’t think I’m going to let you be alone for six weeks while you’re healing do you?” Skye asks her mother “There’s no way, that’s if you’re okay with it.” Skye reveals “Plus because I’m only a consultant not an agent that’s fine right?” Skye asks looking up at her father.

“I would love that.” Melinda tells her daughter, still far from happy that she isn’t going to be allowed on the bus for six weeks but glad that Skye is going to be with her

“Yes that is fine Skye, but I don’t have my apartment anymore.” Coulson reveals “I haven’t had it since I died.” He reveals.

Skye and Melinda exchange a look both thinking about what they are going to do.

“Pick anywhere in the world that you want to stay when you recover and I’ll make sure you have a place there on me.” Tony offers.

“Thanks for the offer Tony, I really appreciate it.” Melinda tells Stark truly meaning her words “But I think I want to go home.” She says looking at Coulson.

“But you just said...” Skye begins to say but then notices the look her parents are exchanging. “You mean the house.” She realises.

“Yeah I do.”

“Are you sure?” Coulson asks shocked as neither of them have lived at the house since a couple of weeks after Skye was taken, yes they have visited but neither of them have stayed there.

“Yeah, I think it’s time we start to make some of the good memoires we should have had.” Melinda tells him sounding slightly uncertain but at the same time very sure of herself.  

“I think that sounds good.” Coulson responds though he does worry how it’s going to be living in that house again.

“Is the house even liveable?” Skye asks curious “It has been twenty five years.” She comments.

“We have maintained it all these years.” Coulson informs her, “There will have to be a couple of changes but yeah, it’s perfectly liveable.”

“Then I think it will be perfect.” Skye comments really excited but at the same time worried about her parents because she remembered her Dad saying how hard it is for them to go back there.

“Now that you’ve figure that out there is something that I have to discus with all of you so I am glad that you all stayed.” Fury comments being one of the only people in the room except for Melinda and Coulson themselves who know how big of a step it is that Melinda suggested that she recovers at the house, “Agent Barton while Agent May recovers you will be assigned to Agent Coulson’s team as a pilot.” He instructs.

“Yes Sir.” Clint responds glad because that means he can keep an eye on Coulson.

“Change anything and I will kill you.” Melinda tells Clint.

“I know Mels.” Clint replies not fazed at all by the threat, but actually glad about it because it means Melinda is more of herself.

“Given recent circumstances you all have two weeks of leave starting tomorrow.” Fury informs everyone, “Once those two weeks are up Agent Romanoff I have an assignment for you. Once that is done we will discuss where you’re next assignment will be, it may be a part of Agent Coulson’s team but it may not be.” He informs her.

“Yes sir.”

“Does this mean I get two weeks off?” Tony asks interested.

“You take two weeks off every day.” Natasha comments.

“Oh ouch.” Tony comments “That hurts Romanoff.” He tells her.

“Anyway. Is there any questions?” Fury asks before Natasha and Stark can start bickering.

“No sir.” Everyone replies.

“Good.” Fury says before exiting the room Hill right behind him.

“Melinda we will talk later.” Streiten informs Melinda “Five minutes.” He tells the others before leaving the room as well.

“Did we just get a two week vacation?” Fitz asks surprised.

“Yep.” Ward comments, “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“Hey Ward, FitzSimmons want to go for coffee? Give the grown-ups time to talk.” Skye suggests.

“You do realise that we are grown-ups as well.” Ward comments.

“No you’re not Boy-Toy.” Tony comments, “She-Coulson’s right, you are kids compared to us.”

“You do realise that you just called yourselves old right?” Ward asks amused as Stark looks less than impressed.

“Okay time to go. Simmons grab his other arm.” Skye instructs and Skye and Simmons pull Ward out of the room, Fitz pushing him from behind.

* * *

 

By the time that the four younger agents are halfway down the corridor all four of them are laughing a welcome change from the last few days.

“So where are we meant to be pushing Ward to?” Fitz asks curious.

“Um, well.” Skye says uncertain.

“Let me guess you wanted to have a conversation with Agent Ward away from the eyes and ears of you parents and Aunts and Uncles and you needed us as an excuse.” Simmons realises.

“Um yeah, you don’t mind do you?” Skye asks worried.

“Not at all.” Simmons tells her friend “Really glad your Mum’s okay.” Simmons tells her giving her a hug.

“Thanks, so am I.” Skye says returning the hug, once she and Simmons hug she and Fitz do the same.

“See you later.” Fitz tells her.

“Oh and remember there are cameras’ everywhere.” Simmons says before her and Fitz walk off talking about plans for their vacation as they do.

“I’m glad your Mom’s okay.” Ward tells Skye.

“Yeah, so am I.” Skye responds “It’s like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest, she’s okay. I can breathe again.”

“I’m glad.” Ward says putting his arm around Skye’s shoulder.

“Aren’t you worried about the cameras’?” Skye asks worried knowing that they both know she means the person watching behind the cameras rather than the cameras’ themselves.

“No.” Ward answers “I’ve already had the talk from Stark and Barton so it’s only a matter of time before I get it from the rest.” He reveals.

“When did Uncle Clint talk to you?” Skye asks interested

“The day of the Party, when you called me a jealous teenager.” Ward reveals.

“Ah right, I knew he heard that. Didn’t know he talked to you though.” Skye comments “Doesn’t make you think you that you would much rather be with someone who doesn’t have large overprotective family does it?” Skye asks worried.

“No.” Ward answers “I like you Skye and I know we haven’t talked about it but I want to be with you. Your family is a part of who you are now, and I know that’s not going to change, I don’t want it to. Does it worry me that one day I could wake up with the Avengers wanting to kill me, of course, but it’s not going to change anything.” Ward tells Skye.

“According to тетя Наташа they will only do something to you if you hurt me, so unless you do you don’t have to worry.” Skye comments.

“Then I don’t have to worry.” Ward comments but Skye isn’t comforted by the words as she has too much experience to believe that even if it is Ward, someone who she does trust saying them.

* * *

 

Half an hour later Skye re-enters her mother’s room to see her Mother asleep and her father amazingly gone, the only people who are in the room that are awake are Clint and Natasha.

“Okay how did she manage to do in half an hour what we haven’t managed to do in days?” Skye asks her Aunt and Uncle surprised as she squats down between their chairs.

“She’s Melinda May, she has powers over Coulson that the rest of us could never dream off.” Natasha comments.

“Yeah, so I’m seeing.” Skye comments.

“So did you have a nice chat with Ward?” Clint asks curious.

“Was director Fury spying again?” Skye asks interested.

“Well he’s a spy, it’s what he does, but in this case no.” Clint answers “It was obvious that the whole Coffee thing was cover so that you could talk to Ward.”

“How clear?” Skye asks worried.

“Perfectly.” Natasha answers, “To those who know about you two.” She adds.

“So not to Dad?” Skye asks.

“No, not to him.” Clint comments.

“Good.” Skye comments standing up and walking back over to her chair.

* * *

 

For the next five days, Skye, Coulson, Clint and Natasha barley leave Melinda’s room. Though as an improvement from when Melinda was unconscious Coulson actually does occasionally. Even though Dr Streiten would have prefer Melinda stay seven days he is discharging her after five but with strict orders. Even though they are technically on vacation Natasha and Clint have stayed with Melinda, Coulson and Skye, and will be stay for a few days at the house because Coulson and Skye need them to help them move things.

It is six am and Melinda, Coulson and Skye are waiting in Melinda’s room for Dr Streiten’s discharge. When they door opens they expect to see the Doctor but instead Clint and Natasha walk in.

“I thought you were going to meet us at the plane.” Skye comments seeing them.

“We were, but we have some things we want to give you.” Clint says.

“This is for you guys.” Natasha says handing Coulson and Melinda each a box.

“And this is for you.” Clint says handing Skye an envelope.

Confused the three open their respective gifts and are surprised at what they find.

“So you took a picture when you were standing over us.” Coulson comments looking at Natasha as his gift is a framed picture of him, Melinda and Skye asleep on the couch together from the day Natasha and Clint arrived.

“We had to.” Clint comments.

“Thank you.” Coulson says sincerely.

Natasha and Clint nod.

“Are these real?” Skye asks looking up at Clint.

“Of course, it’s your original birth certificate, change of name from May Philippa Coulson to May Skye Philippa Coulson…” Clint begins to explain but Melinda cuts him off.

“What?” She asks surprised.

“Oh right, I forgot I didn’t tell you about that.” Skye realises feeling bad that she forgot, “When you were unconscious Uncle Clint called me Skye Coulson and I corrected him, my name is May Skye Philippa Coulson. I’ll still mainly go by Skye because a lot of people call you May, but I wanted it to be official.” Skye explains and without a word Melinda hugs Skye.

“Is that okay?” Skye asks her mother as she hugs her.

“That’s perfect.” Melinda responds.

“There is also a driver’s license, passport and everything else you need.” Clint tells Skye once she and Melinda break apart.

“You didn’t have to do this.” Skye tells Clint.

“I know, but I know how much it hurt you not ever having any of this stuff. So Tony and I asked for Hill’s help to get it for you.” Clint reveals.

“Thank you Uncle Clint.” Skye says grateful hugging him.

“Thank Tony next time you see him, he deserves it too.” Clint tells her as he hugs her positive that Skye will see Tony Stark again, likely soon.

“I will.” Skye whispers back.

“What about you Mom? What’s in your box?” Skye asks curious.

“This.” Melinda says passing the box to Skye so that she can have a look, inside is a double frame, on one side is a picture of the three of them the day Skye was born and on the other is the same picture that they gave Coulson.

“I don’t know much about the house but from the photo’s I have seen I’m thinking there’s a place for that somewhere.” Clint tells her.

“Thank you so much.” Melinda tells her friends a tear coming to her eye.

“You should thank Maria as well, she suggested it.” Natasha reveals and the door opens and Dr Streiten walks in.

“Good, I see you’re all ready to go.”  Dr Streiten notes.

“I’ve been ready for days.” Melinda comments.

“I’ve noticed.” Dr Streiten responds “Now remember that arm is to be kept in a sling at all times and you are on bed rest for the next three weeks, and keep an eye on your oxygen levels with the equipment I gave you. Any problems go to the doctor. I will be stateside ten days to check on you.” He reveals then turns to Skye and Coulson “Do you remember what I told you to watch out for and what you need to do, or would like me to go over it again?” He asks curious.

“No, I know Doc.” Coulson answers.

“I wrote it all down, plus I had Simmons go over everything with me in more detail, I’m alright.” Skye comments.

“You didn’t have to do all that.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I wanted to make sure I knew what look out for just in case.” Skye tells her mother.

“Well even though I would feel better if you stayed a couple more days, you are free to go Melinda.” Dr Streiten tells her.

“Finally.” Melinda comments.

“I think what she means is thankyou Doc.” Coulson corrects.

“Right sorry, thank you.” Melinda comments as Skye, Clint and Natasha watch with amused expressions on their faces.

“So you know I just realised, I don’t actually know where the house is.” Skye comments.

“It’s in Queen’s New York.” Coulson answers.

“It was my parents’ house, after they died I moved in with grandparents but they always kept the house for me.” Melinda explains.

“So it’s not just the house I should have grown up in, but the one you should have as well.” Skye comments.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Melinda realises, “Is this really necessary?” Melinda asks Dr Streiten referring to the wheelchair.

“If you want to leave today it is.” Streiten tells her.

“Fine.” Melinda says clearly unimpressed.

“Come on Mom, it will be fun.” Skye says and she starts to push Melinda in the wheelchair pretty fast.

“SKYE SLOW DOWN.” Coulson yells after his daughter, the nurses and other personal being so used to the odd behaviour of the group that no one even turns to see what is going on.

“Thank you Doc for everything.” Coulson tells him, “Don’t take this personally, but I really hope I don’t see you again for a very long time.” Coulson tells him.

“I understand.” Dr Streiten responds shaking Coulson’s hand then walking away after saying his goodbyes to both Natasha and Clint.

“Guess we should catch up with them.” Clint comments.

“They’re halfway to the plane by now.” Natasha comments. “Are you alight?” She asks Coulson concerned.

“I’m amazing Tash.” Coulson tells his friend, “A week ago we weren’t even sure Melinda was going to make it and now she’s coming home, I don’t think there is a word that describes how I’m feeling.” Coulson admits as the three friends walk back to the Bus.

 

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	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Almost five hours later the plane is in the air and almost reached its destination. Skye is sitting on her bed when she hears a knock at the door.

“Come in.” Skye responds and her Dad walks in.

“Hey.” Coulson says walking over and sitting next to her, “So I realised that we haven’t really talked in a while. So I thought we should, are you okay?” He asks concerned.

“Yeah I’m okay.” Skye confirms “it’s okay that we haven’t talked, you’ve been worried about Mom. Where is she anyway?” Skye asks concerned.

“Upstairs in my room, Your Aunt Natasha is with her.” Coulson explains “And me being worried about your Mom is no excuse for why I haven’t been talking to you.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Dad, stop beating yourself up.” Skye informs her father, “I’m okay. I understand, when Mom was hurt you were barely hanging on and it doesn’t matter that you didn’t talk to me.” Skye tells Coulson “Every time I feel asleep when I woke up you were holding me that means more to me than anything you could have said.” Skye explains.

“You’re pretty amazing, you know that?” Coulson asks his daughter surprised at how okay she is with the fact that he hasn’t been the greatest Dad the last couple of weeks.

“It might have been mentioned.” Skye says with a grin.

“How are you feeling?” Coulson asks interested “You’re not still week are you?” he asks worried.

“No I’m fine.” Skye answers “I stopped feeling week days ago. Everything’s back to normal.” Skye tells him “Well almost.” She corrects “I actually know what my powers are now.”

“You haven’t been trying to use them have you?” Coulson asks worried, “We don’t know what the effects on you are.”

“Relax, I haven’t.” Skye assures her father “FitzSimmons gave me a long lecture before they went home. I’m not going to try and use my abilities until they can monitor me when I try.” Skye assures her father though she makes sure she doesn’t promise because she is sure that she may not be able to keep it.

“Good.” Coulson comments “You learning how to control what you can do is important, but what is more important is to make sure you are safe when you do.” Coulson tells his daughter because he knows that now that Skye has actually realised that she has power and what it is, it is important that she learns control because it is more likely that she will accidently use it now.

“I know.” Skye informs her Dad.

“We’ll be landing soon.” Coulson comments “You should get what you want to take with you ready.” He tells her.

“I don’t have much so it won’t take me long to pack it up but I don’t know what to bring.” Skye admits “I mean, what do I take with me? What do I leave here?” She asks, “This was the first room that I’ve ever been able to call mine, it was the first one I didn’t share with three other girls or that wasn’t my van, and now I’m going to stay in the room that I should have grown up in. I don’t know what to bring.” Skye admits feeling like it would be best to leave out mentioning the worse places than her van and sharing with others that she has lived.

“Take whatever you want.” Coulson tells his daughter “This will still be your room, when you and your Mom come back. So if you leave things here they will be waiting for you, or you can take everything and when you come back just bring what you want. It’s up to you.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“How are we getting to the house anyway?” Skye asks curious “I’m guessing we’re not going to be taking the S.H.I.E.L.D car.”

“I arranged for your Mom’s personal car to be waiting for us at the airfield.” Coulson explains “We’ll take that and Lola.” Coulson explains.

“Any chance I can drive Lola?” Skye asks feeling that her Dad hasn’t told her off for taking the car in Italy she might have a chance.

“No.” Coulson answers.

“Oh, come on.” Skye objects, “I drove her in Italy.” She points out

“And according to Simmons you almost crashed into several trees.” Coulson reminds her.

“You heard about that?” Skye asks worried because she wasn’t going to mention it.

“Yeah I did.” Coulson tells her “Once your arm is out of plaster I will take you somewhere secluded and I will teach you how to fly and drive her correctly.” Coulson reveals.

“Seriously?” Skye asks completely shocked.

“Seriously.” Coulson answers, “I always planned to teach you how to drive and fly Lola at some point so I think it’s time that I did.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Ahh, thank you Dad.” Skye says extremely happy giving him a hug. “Hang on does that mean I will be the only person who actually has permission to drive her?” Skye asks interested.

“Yep.” Coulson answers.

“That is so cool.” Skye comments with a grin.

“Glad you think so.” Coulson responds.

“You’re going to teach me how to drive and Fly Lola, who wouldn’t think it was cool?” Skye asks.

“Your Mom.” Coulson responds knowing how much Melinda dislikes Lola.

“Dad is she okay?” Skye asks her voice turning serious “The last couple of days she’s been quite, quitter than normal I mean.” She corrects.

“I don’t know.” Coulson answers truthfully, “She’s been through a trauma Skye a pretty big one, and that has an effect on a person.” Coulson explains remembering the words that May herself said to him months ago.

“I know, I’m just worried.” Skye tells her Dad.

“I know, so am I.” Coulson admits. “We should be landing soon, I’ll let you get your packing done.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Thanks.” Skye responds and Coulson gets up and leaves Skye’s bunk.

* * *

 

Half an hour later they have landed and Coulson, Natasha, Clint and May are down in the cargo bay waiting for Skye.

“SKYE! HURRY UP!” Clint yells from the bottom of the stairs.

“Relax Uncle Clint I’m coming.” Skye tells her Uncle as she walks down the stairs with her two bags, and her box, having decided to take everything with her out of habit, “Where am I putting this stuff anyway?” She asks interested, “I don’t think it will fit in Lola.” She comments.

“My car’s down there, put it in there.” Melinda tells her daughter and Skye looks to see a silver SUV at the end of the ramp.

“Cool.” Skye comments walking down the ramp.

“Tell me again why you didn’t arrange to have the car that Nat got you waiting?” Clint asks interested as Coulson helps Melinda walk.

“Because we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, plus we wouldn’t be able to fit everyone.” Melinda explains.

“And you don’t think Lola will draw attention to us?” Clint asks.

“No.” Melinda and Coulson answers.

“People are used to Lola being around the house.” Coulson explains. “The car Tasha got Mel on the other hand will draw attention.” Coulson explains.

“What kind of car is it?” Skye asks interested as she puts her bags and box in the trunk, where there are currently several bags. 

“A really awesome one.” Clint answers. “Two door Bentley convertible, Tasha got it for Mels for her birthday last year.”  Clint explains.

“That’s kind of awesome.” Skye admits.

“Drives well too, but it’s only two seater and in Queens, even our neighbourhood, it tends to draw attention.” Melinda explains and Coulson help her into the car.

“You ridding with your Dad?” Clint asks.

“Yep.” Skye answers.

“See you there.” Clint says as he gets in the back and Natasha in the driver’s side.

“You ready to go Baby Girl?” Coulson asks as Skye watches Clint, Natasha and Melinda drive off.

“Yep.” Skye answers walking over to Lola and getting in.

“Good, then let’s go.” Coulson says getting in and driving out of the cargo hold.

* * *

 

“Hey you okay?” Coulson asks Skye concerned as for most of the twenty minute drive she has been silent.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Skye responds though truthfully she is worried about seeing the house she should have grown up in.

“Well we’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” Coulson answers.

“Really?” Skye asks looking at her father.

“Yep.” Coulson answers.

“This is our street.” Coulson tells Skye several minutes later. As they drive down the street Skye looks around she sees kids all around playing and realises that it should have been her, this is the street she should have spent her childhood playing in, scaring her parents while doing so.

“Here we are.” Coulson says as he pulls in the driveway of a two story grey, Colonial Architecture house that has a small front yard, a large tree on the opposite side to the driveway and a small veranda.

Even though she has spent hours staring at the photos of the house it is quite different to see it for real.

“Skye?” Coulson asks concerned whens she hasn’t said anything or moved several minutes later.

“Right sorry.” Skye says snapping out of her staring. “You didn’t have to wait for us.” Skye comments when she realises Clint, Natasha and Melinda are waiting in the front yard.

“Yes we did.” Melinda tells her daughter as her and Coulson get out of Lola.

“You ready for this?” Coulson asks Skye as he walks over to her and Melinda, “I’ve been ready for years.” Skye tells her parents “Are you guys?” she asks worried.

“Yeah, I think we are.” Coulson admits after exchanging a look with Melinda.

“Then let’s do this.” Skye comments and the three of them, both Coulson and her helping Melinda, walk up the four steps and into to the front yard, Clint and Natasha staying back to give them there moment.

Coulson enters first and then taking a breath Skye follows right behind them. The second she enters she is amazing and she realises that her parents were right about keeping the house maintained, if you didn’t know better you would think that someone lives there. The floors are hardwood and right across from the front door is the stairs that lead upstairs.

“We’ll show you upstairs in a minute.” Coulson tells Skye, “Come this way first.” Coulson says and Skye follows her Dad to the left which is a large living room with a fireplace and Skye notices that there are framed pictures of her and her parents and the people she now knows to be her grandparents and her mother’s grandparents on the mantel.

“Through there is the den, or what your Mom and I used as our office.” Coulson explains pointing to the double French doors next to the fireplace, where there is currently a baby’s play mat sitting in front of.

“You know you really need to update the TV.” Skye comments seeing the twenty year old TV across from the couch.

“I know.” Coulson comments, “Like I said there needs to be a few changes.” He tells her.

“Come back this way.” Melinda says and Skye follows Melinda across the entry way to the dining room.

“This is the dining room and through either that door.” Melinda says pointing to the one to her left “Or the one next to the stairs leads to the kitchen.” She explains.

“Come on I want to show you the kitchen.” Coulson says a hint of excitement clear in his voice.

“He did a remodel by himself not long before you were born, he was very proud of that.” Melinda explains to Skye leaving out the best part of the story for now.

“Right.” Skye comments amused as he and Melinda follow Coulson into the kitchen.

The kitchen is very large, has a double stove and a lot of bench space and cupboards above, knowing how much her Dad loves to cook she is sure that he must have loved to cook in here.

“I’ve got to replace the fridge, and I’m going to replace the appliances including the microwave with one from mine or your Mom’s apartment, but the stove is still fine, so that’s good.” Coulson comments.

“The basement is down there, there is a large bathroom and a laundry, but it’s mostly just storage down there.” Coulson explain pointing to the door to the right of the one they just entered through which is directly across from the door to the kitchen near the stairs. 

“Do you want to see the backyard?” Coulson asks curious.

“Okay.” Skye responds and follows her parents outside through the door across from the one that leads to the dining room.

“It’s not that big.” Melinda comments.

“It’s prefect.” Skye comments as even though her Mothers right and there isn’t much lawn space there is a bit and there are flower beds.

Melinda and Coulson smile but they don’t say anything.

“There’s a swing down in the basement that was meant to come out here but we were waiting for the weather to warm up.” Coulson reveals sadly.

“Can we go upstairs now?” Skye asks curious.

“Sure.” Melinda responds and the three head back inside through the kitchen and they are about to head upstairs when they notice Natasha and Clint sitting on the couch.

“You guys coming?” Skye asks curious.

“No, we’ll wait down here.” Natasha comment and Skye follows her parents upstairs.

Once they are upstairs there is a corridor with four white doors coming off of, when see looks at the doors and sees that one of them has in large purple letters “May’s room” she feels tears coming to her eye and Her father’s arm around her shoulder.

“Come on.” Coulson says and he leads Skye over to the door.

“Open it.” Melinda tells her daughter and nervously Skye reaches out and twists the silver door knob and takes a single step inside.

Unlike the rest of the house the room, her room, has carpet, a white carpet. The walls are a light purple and fitting with the white purple theme that her parents clearly went with for her room there are several white shelves and a chest of draws, the shelves are filled with toys and books for a baby, and a white crib next to one of the windows and toys on the floor. Nervously Skye walks across the room to the crib where laying in it neatly folded is the S.H.I.E.L.D blanket she saw in the pictures.

“Can I pick it up?” Skye asks he parents who have walked over to stand either side of her.

“Of course.” Melinda answers, a tear rolling down her face as she sees her daughter in her room for the first time since she was taken from them.

Reaching down Skye picks up the blanket and smiles as she runs her finger along the stitching of May Coulson.

“What’s this?” Skye asks noticing the little bear in the corner of the cot.

“You’re bear.” Coulson answers “You would scream if you didn’t have that. It’s why we knew that whoever took you hadn’t spent any time with you, because anyone who had would have known to take that as well.” He explains.

Not sure what to say Skye just hugs her parents.

“Where does that go?” Skye asks curious pointing to the door on the other side of the room, next to a white changing table.

“Wardrobe.” Coulson answers “It’s not walk in, it just has a normal door, and there is a mirror on the other side.” Coulson explains.

“Cool.” Skye comments as she looks around the room, the she should have gotten to spend her life in. “I don’t want to get rid of any of this stuff.” Skye comments “I mean I know I have to move the crib and the changing table so that I can fit a bed in here, but I don’t want to get rid of anything.” She tells her parents.

“You don’t have to.” Coulson tells her “There is plenty of storage room in the basement, we can just move the bigger things down there and Clint brought boxes so that you can box up all the other stuff that you don’t want in here at the moment.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Is that okay?” Skye asks wanting to make sure her parents are okay with it “You’ve kept this room the same way for twenty five years.” She points out.

“This is your room Skye, it always has been. We kept it the same was as it was when you were taken because we couldn’t bear to change it, but it was always meant to change as you grew up, it’s about time it did.” Melinda tells her daughter

Once again not sure what to say Skye just hugs her parents again.

“Do you mind if spent some time in here alone?” Skye asks her parents.

“Of course not.” Coulson response, “Just a couple of things, directly across from your door in our room, next to it is the bathroom and next door to here is the spare room.” Coulson tells her.

“Right, got it.” Skye tells her parents.

“We’ll be downstairs.” Melinda comment.

“I’ll be down in a little bit.” Skye responds and Melinda and Coulson nod and leave the room.

Looking around the room Skye spots something on the chest of draws that she wants to look at closer. Walking over she picks up what is a framed picture of her hand and feet prints clearly done after she was born.

Placing the picture back down she walks back over to her crib and picks up the bear that once meant so much to her and then goes and sits down on the arm chair across from her crib.

For several minutes she just sits in the chair thinking about all the things that should have happened in this room, all the chances she should have had.

As she feels tears coming to her eyes she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone and calls someone.

“Hello?” Ward’s voice answers.

“Hey, it’s me.” Skye responds.

“Are you okay? You should upset.” Ward comments worried.

“I’m sitting in my room Ward.” Skye tells him, “I’m sitting in my room holding an S.H.I.E.L.D blanket that has my name on it and a toy bear, my toy bear.” She reveals.

* * *

 

“Are you sure you want to go downstairs?” Coulson asks Melinda as he helps her down the stairs. “You’re meant to be on bed rest.” He reminds her.

“I can do that on the couch.” Melinda tells him.

“You are going to listen to what the Doctor told you to do, aren’t you?” Coulson asks as they walk into the living room.

“You mean like you did?” Melinda asks curious.

“I wasn’t as bad as I could have been.” Coulson defends.

“How did it go?” Natasha asks curious ending the bickering.

“Good.” Coulson answers, “She asked for a while alone in her room.” He explains.

“And how was it for you guys?” Clint asks curious.

“Amazing, heartbreaking, incredible, and a hundred other things.” Coulson answers.

“Are you going to be okay staying here?” Natasha asks curious.

“Yeah I think so.” Coulson answers.

“Mels?” Clint asks when Melinda hasn’t said anything.

“Yeah.” She answers. “I’ll be okay.” Melinda responds.

* * *

 

Half an hour later Skye finally leaves her room and heads downstairs, where she finds Clint, Natasha and her Mom in the living room but not her Dad.

“Where’s Dad?” Skye asks interested.

“Putting Lola in the garage.” Clint answers.

“Right.” Skye comments sitting down on the end of the large L shaped couch.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Skye asks interested, “I’m guessing we all have to get something’s.” Skye says to her mother.

“I believe your Dad and Uncle Clint are going to both of mine and your father’s storage lockers to get what we need for the house while you along with Aunt Natasha’s help move things down to the basement. Then you and your Dad will go and buy the other stuff we need while Clint and Natasha unpack all the stuff from storage.” Melinda explains.

“Sounds good, but I’ve got to know. Which is the better bathroom?” Skye asks curious.

“Last I knew upstairs, but that could have changed. There was a problem with the pipes a couple of years ago and they we’re all replaced, so either could be the better one.” Melinda explains.

“Right.” Skye comments, “So judging by the fact that the TV in here is over twenty years old I don’t have high hopes for Wi-Fi, but is that going to change?” Skye asks curious “Because I need my internet.” She says to Melinda’s, Natasha’s and Clint’s amusement.

“In half an hour an S.H.I.E.L.D communications team will be here to install secure network, phone line and security. They think they are setting up a place for a mission, they don’t realise that it is actually a home.” Coulson explains walking in. “Director Fury picked the team himself and I vetted them just to be on the safe side.” he explains.

“Okay, cool.” Skye comments, “I’m guessing you also want me to add my own encryption to it as well?” She asks.

“That would be good.” Coulson answers, “There are boxes and a tape dispenser and a marker in the hallway for you.”

“Thanks.” Skye tells her father.

“Have you got the list I gave you?” Melinda asks Coulson.

“Of course, I just hope everything is as well labelled as you claim it is.” Coulson responds

“It is.” Melinda responds.

“Then we should be fine, come on Clint.” Coulson tells his friend.

“See you later.” Coulson tells Skye, Melinda and Natasha.

“Have fun.” Clint comments before leaving.

“I should get started.” Skye says standing up.

“Do you want a hand?” Natasha asks curious.

“When I’m ready to move stuff downstairs I will but not right now.” Skye says before heading out of the room and grabbing the boxes and other things her Dad left her and heading upstairs.

“Linda, what is it? Talk to me.” Natasha asks her friend worried once she hears the door upstairs close.

“I’m fine.” Melinda tells her friend.

“I no longer accept that as an answer, try again.” Natasha comments.

“The last time I was stuck on this couch when others were working around the house was the last month of my pregnancy with Skye.” Melinda reveals telling Natasha part of what is bothering her but not the biggest thing.

“Oh.” Natasha responds not sure how to respond “If it’s going to be so hard for you to be here, then why did you say you want to recover here?” Natasha asks curious “Stark would have let you pick anywhere to recover and payed for it, and he really wouldn’t have minded.”

“For twenty five years when I think of this place or when I’m here I only remember one thing, the morning I woke to my daughter gone. I don’t think about Phil spending months renovating the kitchen and making mistake after mistake, or the night Phil and I slept out on the back lawn after a really hard mission, or falling asleep on this couch with Skye in my arms her third night home, or a hundred other good times I had here. I know that I will never forget that morning or how I felt, but this is home our home, Phil, Skye’s and mine, I want to try and make a few more good times for us.” Melinda explains to her best friends.

Natasha nods understanding Melinda’s reasons “What else is bothering you?” Natasha asks knowing her friend well enough to know that something else is.

“Nothing.” Melinda answers.

“I know you Melinda, there is something else bothering you, something you’re not saying. So what is it?” Natasha asks her friend.

“Nothing I’m fine.” Melinda responds clearly annoyed with the question.

Recognizing the signs of Melinda clearly not wanting to talk about something so much so that she will react badly if she is continued to be pushed Natasha drops the subject but makes a note to talk to Phil about her.

* * *

 

Up in her room Skye places the boxes in the middle and tries to decide where to start. She decides to start with the wardrobe because she feels like it will be the place with the most things that she will want to put in the basement.

Walking over and opening the door she sees a lot of baby clothes in all different sizes hanging and a lot of shoes on the floor. As she starts to box things up she looks at each item before she places it a box. When she gets to two different tops Skye decides that they must have been jokes like from her parents and to each other. One top says ‘Daddy’s little princess’ and the other says ‘My Mommy a Superhero.’ Looking at the two top Skye smiles and walks over and places them on the chair deciding that they are not going to the basement, she wants to keep them with her.

* * *

 

An hour and a half later, ten minutes after the S.H.I.E.L.D team leaves Skye goes back downstairs.

“тетя Наташа, I could use your help now.” Skye tells her aunt.

“Of course.” Natasha answers.

“Hey Mom, the top that says ‘My Mommy’s a superhero’ who brought me that?” Skye asks curious.

“Your Dad.” Melinda answers with a small found smile.

“Thought so.” Skye comments and heads back upstairs, Natasha right behind her.

“What do you want taken downstairs?” Natasha asks Skye curious when they walk inside.

“The boxes.” Skye answers “And the crib, and the changing table.”

“You’re keeping the rest?” Natasha asks curious.

“Yeah.” Skye answers “I’m going to have to move some stuff around but yeah, I want to keep it all in here.” Skye answers.

“Okay, what do you want to start with?”

“The big things.” Skye answers.

“I’ll grab this side you grab the other.” Natasha instructs and Skye nod and the pair get started on moving everything downstairs.

* * *

 

Half an hour Natasha and Skye are moving the last of the boxes downstairs when the front door opens and Coulson and Clint walk in with their own boxes.

“How many boxes have you got left?” Coulson asks his daughter as her and Natasha walk back in the hallway.

“That was the last of them. Why?” Skye asks curious.

“Good you can help us get the rest of the boxes out of the car.” Clint tells her.

“If you don’t mind.” Coulson adds.  

“Sure.” Skye says and the four get the rest of the boxes and place them in the living room.

“So what’s going on now?” Clint asks because he forgot what was said earlier.

“Skye and I going to go shopping and if you don’t mind you and Natasha are going to stay here and wait for the stuff we’re getting delivered and set that up when it gets here and unpack the boxes.” Coulson tells him.

“Sure that’s fine.” Natasha responds.

“If that includes my bed then give me a minute.” Skye comments “I’ve just got to decide where I want it.” Skye says running upstairs.

A few minutes later Skye returns downstairs. “If it gets delivered before I get back then between the windows.” Skye tells her Aunt and Uncle.

“Got it.” Clint answers.

“I’m ready when you are.” Skye tells her father.

“Let’s go.” Coulson says and he and Skye both say goodbye to Melinda before leaving.

“Oh, here.” Coulson says as he hands Skye a set of keys.

“Are these mine?” Skye asks looking at the keys like they are something precious.

“Yep.” Coulson comments as they get in Melinda’s SUV.

“Wow.” Skye says smiling to herself.

“So where are we going first?” Skye asks her father.

“Fridge and Microwave, TV, and your bedroom furniture then to get other stuff.” Coulson answers.

“What other stuff?” Skye asks curious.

“Food, a list of things your Mother gave me, and thing you need.” He explains.

“And what is the spending limit of this shopping trip?” Skye asks curious having a feeling that it is going to be an expensive trip but not wanting it to be so because she doesn’t want her parents to spend too much money on her.

“There isn’t one.” Coulson answers.

“No, no way.” Skye answers “You need to tell me how much I can spend, I don’t want to spend too much.”

“Skye don’t worry about the cost. If you want something then get it.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“But.” Skye begins to object again but Coulson cuts her off.

“Skye, it’s not a problem, I promise you.” He tells his daughter.

“If you’re sure.” Skye responds worried.

“I’m sure.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Okay.” Skye say but she still promises herself that she won’t get anything too expensive.

* * *

 

Four hours later Coulson and Skye arrive back at the house.

“So are you sure I didn’t buy too much?” Skye asks worried as they get out the car.

“Positive.” Coulson assures his daughter.

“So what exactly are you making for dinner tonight?” Skye asks curious “When we we’re food shopping it seemed like you kept changing your mind.” She comments.

“That’s because I was.” Coulson answers “I’m not exactly sure, but I’ll figure it out.” He comments

“You know I am never going food shopping with you again.” Skye tells her father as they walk in the house.

“You can join the rest of us then.” Clint informs her from where he is sitting on the couch with Natasha and Melinda.  

“I don’t see what you all complain about, there is nothing wrong with how I shop for food.” Coulson comments.

“You spent ten minutes on each different type of vegetable trying to choose the best.” Melinda points out.

“And fifteen in the meat section trying to decide what exactly you need because you don’t plan anything.” Clint adds.

“And you analyse everything you buy trying to decide the best value for money.” Natasha adds.

“Groceries in the back of the car, you three go.” Coulson comments and Natasha, Clint and Skye all head back out the front, each of them with a smile on their face. 

“How are you feeling?” Coulson asks Melinda walking over to her.

“Okay, a little tired, but okay.” Melinda tells him.

“Did one of them check your oxygen levels?” Coulson asks worried.

“Yeah, Natasha’s been checking them, they’re fine.” Melinda assures him.

“Good.” Coulson comments. “Has everything been delivered?” He asks as he notices the new TV that Skye picked out.

“Yep, and set up.” She answers.

“Good.” Coulson comments.

Five minutes later Natasha, Clint and Skye have managed to unpack the car completely.

“I’m going to go unpack.” Skye tells her parents grabbing her shopping bags and the bag and single box she brought with her before heading upstairs.

“You going to start dinner soon Phil?” Clint asks interested “We are hungry you know.”

“I could make you cook for yourself you know.” Coulson comments and Melinda snorts “That means letting us in your kitchen, you wouldn’t do that. Not with this kitchen.” She points out.

“Homemade Pizza and Garlic bread okay with you?” He asks the three knowing that Melinda is right.

“Sounds good. “ Clint responds and Natasha and Melinda nod.

“I’ll go check with Skye and then get started.” He says walking upstairs.

When he gets to Skye’s room he knocks on the door and receives a “Come in.” in response.

As he enter the room he sees the white double bed set between the widows and the bedside tables either side, the shelves where they have always been with a lot of the things that have always been on them still there, the lounge chair next to the left side table and the chest of draws next to the door. Skye has clearly just started to unpack because the shopping bags are piled on the bed.

“Hey Dad, what’s up?” Skye asks curious.

“I was thinking of making Pizza and Garlic bread for dinner that okay with you?” He asks curious.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Skye responds. “What do you think so far, I mean I know it’s a mess, but what do you think?”

“I like it.” Coulson tell her, “But are you sure you don’t want a TV for in here?” he asks.

“Nah, I just use my laptop.” She tells her Dad.

“If you’re sure.” Coulson comments, “What toppings do you want?” He asks interested.

“Ham and cheese.” Skye answers.

“Done.” Coulson tells her, “It should be ready in about an hour.” He informs her. “You think you’re going to get that clear off enough to sleep?” He asks curious.

“Yeah, won’t be too hard.” Skye answers.  “Everything either goes, in the wardrobe, draws or shelves so, it shouldn’t take me very long really.” Skye comments. “I’ll add my encryption to the network after dinner.”

“Good, I’ll go over the security system with you then as well.” Coulson tells her.

“Cool.” Skye responds.

“See you at dinner.” Coulson says before exiting the room.

* * *

 

An hour later Coulson returns up to Skye’s room to inform her that Dinner Is ready, when he does he is surprised to find everything has been put away.

She is putting picture frames up on the draws when Coulson walks in.

“Dinner’s ready.” He tells her.

“Good, perfect timing.” Skye comments as she places the last picture in the middle. “I was wondering is there somewhere safe I could put all this?” She asks referring to the envelope of documents that Clint gave her, “I kept the license but I want to put the rest of this somewhere safe.” She explains.

“There is a safe down in the office, I’ll put it in there.” He comments.

“Cool.” Skye say and the pair head downstairs.

Once they are downstairs Skye pauses before heading into the dining room because she sees that above the fireplace is the double picture that Natasha gave Melinda.

“What do you think?” Melinda asks interested as Coulson walks into the office.

“I think it’s perfect.” Skye responds realising even though it may not feel like it yet, this is home.

“Come on Kid, Pizza’s getting cold.” Clint yells at her and Skye turns around with a smile on her face “I’m coming Uncle Clint, seriously hold your horses.” Skye tells her Uncle walking over and sitting next to Natasha, across from Clint.

Once he locks Skye’s documents in the safe Coulson exits the office and walks back across the living room to Melinda’s side who is standing in the entry way watching, Skye, Natasha and Clint. As the pair watch they realise they have finally gotten what they have been waiting for, for twenty five years; their family home and together.

“If you want Pizza before Uncle Clint eats it all then you might want to come and eat.” Skye tells her parents.

Melinda and Coulson exchange a smile before walking over and joining their family for dinner.

 

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	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** Thank you so so much for your continued support of this story, it means the world to me.

* * *

 

Unknown to Skye all through the night her parents have woken up and came to check to make sure she was still in her bed, safely asleep, both of them remembering the last time she slept in that room and what happened.

When morning comes Skye is the last one to wake. She gets up and gets ready for the day before heading downstairs. When she does she sees her Mom and Aunt Natasha sitting in the living room but no sign of her Dad or Uncle Clint.

“Where are Dad and Uncle Clint?” Skye asks curious.

“In the office.” Melinda explains “Did you sleep alright?” She asks interested.

“Yeah I slept great.” Skye answers “Will Dad get mad if I attempt to make breakfast in his kitchen?” Skye asks curious.

“Coffee’s ready in the kitchen and Clint went up to the bakery up the road and got pastries, there are still plenty of them left and they taste pretty good.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Sounds good, where can I find plates and coffee mugs?” Skye asks curious.

“Plates are in the high cupboard closes to the widow on the side where the stove is, cups are in the cupboard opposite.” Melinda tells her.

“Cool.” Skye says getting up and heading into the kitchen.

* * *

 

While Melinda and Natasha are in the living room Clint and Coulson are in the office playing chess.

“Nat asked that I talk to you, she thinks something is bothering Mels, but when she tried to bring it up Mels shut her down.” Clint reveals.

“I know something bothering her.” Coulson admits “But she won’t talk to me either.”

“Any idea why?” Clint asks curious.

“No, but if I had to guess I would say it has something to do with what happened.” Coulson tells him.

“Do you think she’ll be okay when we go back on the bus?” Clint asks worried.

“There’s eight days to then, I’ve just got to hope I can get through to her by then.” Coulson tells his friend.

“And if you can’t?”

“Then I’ll figure something out.” Coulson answers “What’s going on between you and Tasha?” He asks interested wanting to get the subject of him and Melinda.

“What do you mean?” Clint asks pretending to be confused.

“I saw you kissing last night when I was coming out of the bathroom. You really should close the door the whole way.” Coulson comments as Clint and Natasha are staying in the spare room while they are staying at the house.

“We kissed when Mels woke and have a few times since.” Clint admit.

“And?” Coulson asks.

“And I don’t know, this is me and Nat we don’t exactly talk about our relationship, you know that.” Clint tells his friend.

“Yeah, I know.” Coulson tells him, “You told me that if I hurt Mel I would be dealing with brother Clint well if you hurt Tasha you’ll be dealing with brother Phil, understand?” Coulson asks his friend.

“Understand.” Clint answers, “You know I think they would kill us before we got a chance.” He comments knowing how protective Natasha and Melinda are of each other.

“Probably.” Coulson answers amused. “How long are you two planning on staying?” He asks curious.

“Not sure, as long as you’ll have us.” He suggests.

“That would be a long time, you two are always welcome here, you know that.” Coulson tells him.

“Yeah I do.” Clint admits, “I’ll talk to Nat and let you know.” He says “Whose move is it?” he asks realising that they forgot to play when they were talking.

“Um, yours.” Coulson answers and the door opens and Skye walks in.

“Wow Dad, no suit. I’m shocked.” Skye says between bites of pastries as she notices that her dad isn’t wearing a suit.

“I don’t always wear a suit.” Coulson comments.

“Ninety percent of the time you do.” Clint tells his friend.

“So this is what Mom meant when she said you’re collection is bigger than what is on the plane.” Skye comments before her Dad can make a comment, as she looks around the room and sees a lot of different collectables.

“Yep.” Coulson answers.

“You really have a lot of really old stuff.” Skye comments walking over and sitting on the lounge near the table that Clint and Coulson are sitting at which is across from the doors. There is another desk over by the window and several book shelves all around the room.

“Yeah, I do.” Coulson answers as even though most people don’t understand his collection he is quite proud of it.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Skye asks curious.

“There isn’t really one.” Coulson answers, “What do you want to do?”

“Um, I want to stay around the house, I know that.” Skye comments, “Um how about Movie marathon, that way Mom can join in as well.” She comments.

“That’s a good idea but unless you have movies we can’t, there aren’t any here.” Coulson comments.

“Of course I have movies.” Skye comments, “But I think we should go and pick some up because we also need movie food.” She tells her Dad.

“We went shopping yesterday, there is plenty of food here.” Coulson tells her.

“Yeah food, not movie food.”  Skye tells him.

“What’s the difference?” Coulson asks confused.

“Movie food is as much junk as you can eat in one sitting. You’ve spent the last few months on a plane with young agents, how do you not know that?” Clint asks his friend shocked.

“I think he blocked it out, because after Dad was hurt Fitz and Ward went shopping for our movie snacks and then they dared Simmons and I to eat it all.” Skye explains.

“Vomit?” Clint asks.

“No, we were just really really hyper.” Skye tells him.

“Right, just as bad.” Clint comments.

“Checkmate.” Coulson comments.

“Huh, what?” Clint asks as he stopped really playing attention to the game several minutes ago.

“You lost.” Coulson tells his friend, “Movies sound good, but don’t go overboard on the junk food.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“I’ll try not to.” Skye tells him, “Uncle Clint want to come with?” she asks.

“Sure.” Clint answers, “We should drag Nat along to otherwise she’ll complain that we didn’t get her favourite snacks.” He comments.

“No one knows тетя Наташа like you so how exactly do you not know what her favourite snacks are?” Skye asks curious and confused.

“I do, and I get them but then she always complains that I didn’t get something she likes.” Clint explains.

“You know that she just does that so that next time you will buy more right?” Coulson asks interested.

“I know.” Clint answers.

“Come on Kid, let’s get Nat.” Clint comments part of his reason for insisting that Natasha comes with them being that then maybe Coulson will have a chance at getting Melinda to talk.

“Just let me put this back in the kitchen then I’ll be ready.” Skye says getting up and leaving the office.

“Thanks Clint.” Coulson tells his friend knowing his other reason.

“No need.” Clint comments and the pair leave the office.

* * *

 

Ten minutes later Skye, Clint and Natasha have left, leaving Melinda and Coulson the only ones home.

“How you feeling?” Coulson asks Melinda.

“Okay.” Melinda answers.

“How are your oxygen levels?” Coulson asks.

“Have a look for yourself.” Melinda comments showing Coulson the reader she has on her wrist which is connected to pulse oximeter which is on her finger.

“98, good.” He comments reading it.

“Was it Clint’s idea for both him and Natasha to go with Skye?” Melinda asks curious.

“Skye asked Clint to go but he suggested that Natasha goes with them.” Coulson tells her.

“Right.” Melinda comments realising that he likely did that so her and Coulson can talk.

“Look Mel, I don’t know what is bothering you, but I know something is. If you don’t want to talk about it then okay, I won’t push you but when, if, you do I will be here.” Coulson tells her, “I’ve been where you are and I get it. I’m here for you Mel, whatever you need me to do.” Coulson tells Melinda not sure what else he can do because he knows Melinda well enough to know that if she doesn’t want to talk then there is nothing he can do to get her to.

“I can’t.” Melinda tells Coulson.

“Well when you can I’m here.” Coulson comments becoming more worried because the last time he heard Melinda say she can’t talk about something was the last mission she did with Natasha which lead her to resign from field work.

“I don’t know when that will be.” Melinda admits.

“Mel for thirty years I have loved you, nothing has ever been able to change that, and nothing will.” Coulson tells her, “I can see that you’re hurting and not just from you’re injuries. I said I’m not going to push and I meant that, I’m just going to ask you one more time, what’s wrong?” Coulson asks having a feeling that the reason Melinda doesn’t want to talk about what is wrong is because she is worried about how he will react.

“I don’t deserve what I saw.” Melinda admits quietly, just loud enough for Coulson to hear.

“What?” Coulson asks confused and surprised.

“When I died I saw you and Skye, the best thing in my life, the most amazing thing. After everything I have done I didn’t deserve to see that.” Melinda explains.

“Of course you did.” Coulson comments, he always knew that Melinda feels guilt for what she has done but he didn’t think it was this bad, “Mel everything you’ve done has been for the right reasons, you don’t deserve to be punished for that.” Coulson tells Melinda.

“Yes I do.” Melinda answers, “After everything I’ve done, Bahrain, Istanbul, Jakarta, a hundred other missions, all the lives I have taken in the line of duty, I should be punished.” Melinda tells him, “Seeing the best part of my life wasn’t what I was exacting.” She explains.

“And you don’t know how to handle that.” Coulson realises as he leans back against the couch and puts his arm around Melinda.

“No, I don’t.” Melinda tells him

“There are times when I think I know you better than I know myself and I know without a doubt that you are a good person Mel, you don’t deserve to be punished for what you have done, even if you feel like you should. “ Coulson tells her.

“How do you have so much faith in me?” Melinda asks.

“The same way you have so much in me.” Coulson responds.

Melinda doesn’t say anything just kisses Coulson. Once the pair break apart neither say anymore but Coulson tries to think of ways he could help and Melinda thinks about how Coulson’s words won’t stop her from feeling what she is.

* * *

 

Meanwhile Skye, Clint and Natasha are at the local supermarket getting the food for the moves.

“We need to get as much chocolate as we can, its Mom’s favourite.” Skye tells her Aunt and Uncle.

“We know.” Natasha responds. “Normally I would suggest drinks as well but as Melinda can’t drink at the moment I suggest we go overboard on the chocolate.”

“Sounds good, to the chocolate we go.” Clint comments. “Do you know what the best part of this is?” Clint asks Skye curious.

“No, what’s that?” Skye answers uncertain.

“That this is all on your Dad’s dime.” Clint comments with a grin.

“No it’s not, I’ve got my own money I’ll pay.” Skye comments.

“Skye, Phil gave you his credit card to pay for this, he wanted to use it.” Natasha informs Skye as they start to pile the basket that Clint got with chocolate.

“I know it’s just, I don’t want them to think that I’m using them for their money, I love them and I love that we’re finally being a family. I don’t care about them buying me things, and I don’t want them to think that they have to.” Skye admit, after the last few weeks finding it easy to admit things to Natasha and Clint because they don’t judge and they often help her and a lot of time make it easy for her to go to her parents to talk.

“Kid they know that.” Clint tells her, “They would never think that, ever. They’re just trying to be parents.” Clint tells her.

“So I think we’ve got more than enough Chocolate, where to next?” Skye asks curious avoiding responding to Clint’s point.

“Savoury snacks.” Natasha answers and Skye nods.

 For the next half an hour Natasha, Clint and Skye stock up a whole lot of snacks are different drinks for their long movie marathon. As they shop out of habit Natasha and Clint watch every single person around them for any sign of danger, when she realises what they are doing Skye can’t help but smile to herself but she doesn’t comment.

* * *

 

Over an hour after they left the house Skye, Clint and Natasha return when they do they find Melinda and Coulson sitting next to each other on the couch Coulson still having an arm around Melinda.

“How much did you buy?” Coulson asks shocked when he sees that Skye, Clint and Natasha are holding about four bags each.

“Just what we needed.” Skye comments as they walk into the kitchen.

“Everything in here was necessary?” Coulson asks as after exchanging a look with Melinda and following the trio into the kitchen.

“Yep.” Clint answers.

“Uncle Clint is right we didn’t get a single thing that we didn’t desperately need.” Skye comments.

“Three bags of Twizzlers?” Coulson asks surprise “Why do you desperately need three bags of Twizzlers?”He asks confused.

“Because we all like the green ones best.” Natasha comments. “So to make sure we wouldn’t get in a fight about who would get the green ones we got enough for all of us to have them.” She explains.

“Right, and the ten different types of chocolate?” He asks becoming more confused the more that they unpack. “Several boxes of each I might add.”

“For Mom.” Skye answers.

“Of course.” Coulson answers wondering why he didn’t realise that himself.

“Dad where would I find really big bowls?” Skye asks her father curious.

“What for?” Coulson asks.

“Popcorn.” Skye answers.

“Next to the stove.” Coulson answers

“Awesome, I’ll get started on that.” Skye says as Clint and Natasha finish putting everything away.

* * *

 

Twenty minutes later everyone is once more in the lounge room with several large bowls of popcorn. Melinda and Coulson are sitting where they were earlier, while Skye Is sitting in the corner and Natasha and Clint are sitting next to each other on the part of the couch closes to the stairs.

Twenty minutes into the move and Skye and Clint are already in a popcorn fight which, Melinda, Natasha and Coulson are doing their best to stay out off, which escalates very quickly when Clint throws a muffin at Skye instead of popcorn by accident.

“I’m going to get you for that.” Skye tells Clint and the pair end up chasing each other around the house.

“Are we sure Clint’s not the same age as Skye?” Melinda asks amused.

“It definitely seems like it.” Natasha comments.

“Do you give up Kid?” Clint’s voice asks several minutes later when he and Skye returns to the living room Clint carrying Skye over his shoulder.

“Never Uncle Clint.” Skye responds.

“Then you’re not getting down.” Clint announces.

“Dad, tell him to put me down.” Skye request as she hits Clint and they hear the sound of a camera flash coming from Melinda’s direction.

“Clint put her down.” Coulson comments though he is clearly amused.

“Ha ha.” Skye comments with a grin as Clint puts, well more like drops, her down on the couch.

“You two are children.” Natasha comments.

“After everything that has happened the last couple of weeks I think we deserve some fun while we can.” Clint comments, “Don’t you think?” he tells her.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” Natasha admits.

“We have a week right?” Skye asks “Before Uncle Clint and Dad go back to the plane and тетя Наташа goes on her mission for Fury, so I don’t know about you guys but I vote we have as much fun as possible.” Skye comments.

“I think that sounds like a really good idea.” Coulson comment, “But Natasha and Clint might have other plans.

“I think we could spend a few days here, then a few days just us.” Natasha comments knowing that while they wouldn’t mind spending the whole time with Coulson, Melinda and Skye they should give the three of the sometime alone before they will be away from each other for five weeks. “What do you think?” She Clint curious.

“Sounds good to me, that’s if it’s alright with you guys.” He comments.

“Sounds good.” Coulson comment.

“Yeah it does.” Melinda answers.

* * *

 

For three days Clint and Natasha stay and while they do the group of five spend almost all their time together, a few times they split into groups but they always make sure Melinda isn’t left alone or left out because due to her injuries there is a lot she cannot do and she has to still be monitored.  When Clint and Natasha leave the assure Skye that they will be back the night before Coulson and Clint have to report to the bus and Natasha has to report to Fury so they can have a dinner together.

The first morning after Clint and Natasha leave Skye heads downstairs and finds her mother on the couch reading, Melinda has been spending most of her time on the couch because she refuses to do her bed rest in bed.

“Dad In the kitchen?” Skye asks curious as for the last day Coulson has been making and freezing meals for her and Melinda to heat up while he is gone.

“No, garage, doing something to the car.” Melinda comments putting her book down.

“Lola or your car?” Skye asks curious.

“Lola.”

“What does Lola need done to it?” Skye asks confused.

“No idea.” Melinda answers honestly.

“And what is with cooking and freezing meals? Does he think we can’t look after ourselves?” Skye asks interested.

“The reason your father had to re model that kitchen in the first place is because I caught the stove on fire, I think it’s more he doesn’t want us cooking in there than not thinking we can look after ourselves.” Melinda explains.

“Ah, right. That makes sense.” Skye comments amused. “How are you feeling?” Skye asks interested.

“Okay.” Melinda tells her daughter, “How are you?”

“I’m good, I like it here.” Skye admits, “It’s been fun the last couple of days and even though I love Uncle Clint and тетя Наташа it’s nice to spend some time just the three of us.” Skye comments.

“Yeah, it is.” Melinda admits.

“How is it being back here?” Skye asks interested.

“Hard, but good at the same time.” Melinda admits.

“I get that.” Skye comments because it’s the same for her though she guesses it is harder for her parents.

Melinda and Skye drift into silence until they hear the back door open, “Mel, where did we put the first aid kit?” Coulson voice asks.

“Under the sink.” Melinda responds, “Can you go see what the idiots done to himself?” Melinda asks Skye.

“Of course.” Skye says getting up and heading into the kitchen.

“What did you do?” Skye asks her Dad curious as she walks into the kitchen.

“Nothing to worry about.” Coulson answers, “Just forgot that I had a habit of leaving tools around the garage.” He answers as he stands up and Skye notices the blood on his hand.

“Is it bad?” Skye asks worried.

“No it’s fine.” Coulson responds.

“Maybe you should go get a tetanus shot.” Skye tells her Dad, “Just to be on the safe side.”

“No need, it’s fine.” Coulson answers putting a bad aide on the cut.

“Are you sure?” Skye asks worried.

“Positive.” Coulson answers.

“What are you doing out there anyway?” Skye asks curious as she walks over and sits on the bench.

“Just a tune up on Lola.” Coulson answers as he starts to put everything away.

“Why?” Skye asks confused.

“Because it has to be done.” Coulson answers, “You know you can come out and help if you want.” He suggests.

“Thanks, but Mom and I have a date with John Travolta.” She answers.

“Huh?” Coulson asks confused.

“We decided last night, we’re going to watch Grease, Saturday Night fever, Pulp Fiction, and the look who’s talking movies.” Skye explains. “You should join us.”

“I’m good, I’ve still got a lot to do on Lola.” Coulson informs her.

“Come on, you’ve got a thing for the classics, all of these are classics.” Skye points out.

“Have fun.” Coulson tells his daughter giving her a kiss on her head before leaving out the backdoor, rather quickly Skye notices.

“Mom what drinks do you want?” Skye yells.

“Anything.” Melinda yells back, “Just bring the chocolate.” She tells Skye.

“Of course.” Skye says going to the fridge and pulling out several of the boxes of chocolate they have left a two bottles of juice.

“So what do you want to start with?” Skye asks walking over and placing the drinks and chocolate on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“I was thinking Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and then Pulp fiction. We can decide later if we want to watch the look who’ talking movies.” Melinda suggests.

“Sounds good.” Skye comments getting up and putting the first movie on before returning to the couch and sitting down next to Melinda.

“Let me guess your father disappeared as quickly as possible when you told him what we were watching?” Melinda asks curious.

“Yep, how did you know?” Skye asks surprised.

“Because when I was pregnant with you, when we were suspended, I watched Grease about a hundred times and used to sing the songs to you, I think he got sick of it.” Melinda explains.

“Huh, guess that’s why I love it so much.” Skye answers smiling at her mother.

“Yeah, guess it is.” Melinda comments putting her arm that isn’t in a sling around her daughter.

* * *

 

To Coulson’s dismay he returns inside just in time for the start of Grease, and when he does he finds Skye and Melinda singing along to Summer Nights.

“Come on Dad, come join us.” Skye tells her father.

“I’ve got to have a shower.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“You know we’ve still got most of the movie left. You can’t hide in the bathroom the whole time.” Melinda tells Coulson.

“I can try.” Coulson comments before heading upstairs causing Skye and Melinda to laugh.

* * *

 

The next day Skye gets up earlier than usually because she and Coulson are going to spend the day going for a drive out of the city.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Coulson asks Melinda worried for what she believes to be the hundredth time.

“Positive. My oxygen stats are being measured at all times and will alert me if something’s wrong, I have your number, Skye’s number, and Clint and Natasha are in the city so I can contact them if something happens, hell I could call Stark if I needed to. I’ll be fine, you enjoy you’re day with our daughter.” Melinda tell him.

“Are you sure?” Coulson ask worried, “We can do it another time”

“Don’t you dare, you and Skye have been looking forward to this, go.” Melinda tells Coulson.

“If you’re sure.” Coulson tells her.

“I’m sure.” Melinda says.

“See you later.” Coulson says giving Melinda a kiss before walking over to the bottom of the stairs.

“SKYE YOU READY?” He yells.

“IN A MINUTE.” Skye yells back down as she finishes texting a message to Ward, “Driving with Dad today. Talk to you 2night.”

“I’m ready.” Skye says walking down the stairs. “Bye Mom.” Skye says walking over and giving her Mom a hug goodbye before following her Dad outside “We’re taking Lola right?” Skye asks Coulson.

“Of course.” Coulson responds.

“So does this mean I get one of my how to drive Lola lessons today?” Skye asks curious and hoping that the answer is yes.

“No, not until you get your cast off.” Coulson tells Skye as they get into Lola.

“Well that could be in a couple of days. When Mom and I have to go to the New York office the day after you leave so that Doctor Streiten can check how Mom’s going he’s going to x-ray my arm and see if how it’s healing. I might get this thing off two weeks early.” Skye reveals.

“You’ll have to wait and see, but you may not.” Coulson reminds her.

“I know.” Skye responds and Coulson drives them out of the driveway.

* * *

 

An hour and a half later Coulson and Skye are out of the city and Coulson decides to bring up something he’s been thinking about since Melinda died that he wants Skye’s opinion on.

“So there’s something I’ve been thinking about for a little while that I wanted to talk to you about.” Coulson tells Skye.

“Okay, what?” Skye asks confused.

“So it wouldn’t be right now, but sometime in the future, likely soon, but maybe not be for a while, I was thinking about proposing to your Mom.” Coulson tells Skye sounding more nervous than she has ever heard him.

“Seriously?” Skye ask excited.

“You think it’s a bad idea don’t you?” Coulson asks worried “I mean we’ve only been back together a little over a month and we’re still trying to work things out and….” Coulson babbles but Skye cuts him of.

“Dad relax, I think it’s a great idea.” Skye tells her Dad, “You may have only been back together a month but you’ve been in love for thirty years. You know everything about each other that people who date want to find out. I think it’s an amazing idea.” She tells her father.

“You do?” He asks.

“I do.” Skye assures.

“Good, I wanted to make sure you would be okay with it before I thought about it anymore.” Coulson tells his daughter relieved that she is okay it.

“You don’t need my permission.” Skye tells her Dad.

“Yeah I do.” Coulson tells her “You’re our daughter, neither me nor your mother would do anything that you weren’t okay with.” Coulson reveals.

“Well you don’t have to worry I am a hundred and ten percent okay with this.” Skye assures her father though she is shocked and doesn’t really know what to say about her parents putting her in front of their relationship, “So how are you thinking about doing it? Oh do you have a ring yet?”

“No I don’t have a ring yet.” Coulson reveals though he does have an idea that he is thinking about “And I’m still working on how to do it.” He tells her.

“Well it has to be epic.” Skye tells her father then realises something, “How did you propose last time?” She asks curious as she realises that she doesn’t know.

“Haven’t either of us told you?” Coulson asks surprised.

“No, you told me about how you first met and your wedding but you didn’t tell me how you proposed.” She reveals. “So how did you?” Skye asks eagerly.

“It was the first weekend of we had in months and I made us dinner. For desert I made the Coulson Family Chocolate pudding and on top of the pudding in icing sugar I wrote, ‘Will You Marry Me’ with the ring sticking out below it.” Coulson reveals.

“Wow.” Skye says completely shocked, “You really are a romantic.” Skye comments impressed with her father’s proposal, “But you do realise that you’ve made it so much harder for yourself, how do you expect to top that?” Skye asks interested.

“I never thought I would have to, I thought it would be it for me, that Mel would be it.” Coulson reveals.

“She is.” Skye tell her Dad, “It just took you a while to get back there.”

“Thanks Baby Girl.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“You know you should do the weeding properly this time.” Skye tells her dad several minutes later, “You married in secret last time but you should do it right this time, the whole thing.” She tells him.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself, you don’t even know if your Mother will say yes.” Coulson points out.

“Of course she’s going to say yes.” Skye tells him, “There is no way she will say anything else.”

“Well if she does say yes we have to have a conversation with Fury before we can do anything. It’s against protocol.” He reveals.

“Well if the stories I heard while at Agent Hill’s base are true, you two are the reason that it’s against protocol in the first place so I’m betting that Fury will overlook it.” Skye comments.

“You heard about that?” Coulson asks surprised.

“So it’s true. You and Mom are the reason that Agent’s aren’t allowed to be in relationships?” Skye asks surprised as if the whole story of her Mom in Bahrain taught her anything it was not to listen to S.H.I.E.L.D gossip.

“We’re the reason that Cadets at the academy aren’t allowed to have romantic relationships yes.” Coulson confirms, “Officially there is no protocol against agents in the field being in relationship but it is unwritten that if there is any sign of it affecting the job then action will be taken.” Coulson explains, “But married agents is another matter, that’s why your Mom and I got suspended last time because we didn’t disclose our marriage to S.H.I.E.L.D.” Coulson explain.

“Does that mean you guys won’t be able to work together?” Skye asks surprised.

“It is at the Directors Discretion to choose what happens.” Coulson reveals “We may be able to keep working together or we may not, it will be up to Director Fury.” Coulson reveals.

“Well he loves you guys so I don’t think it will be a problem.” Skye comments hoping that she is right,

“I hope so.” Coulson says. “Do you remember when I said one day I might need to trust you with a secret?” He asks his daughter.

“Of course.” Skye responds.

“I’m trusting you with this secret Skye, no one can know.”

“I won’t tell, promise.” Skye assures her Dad, “When you start to working on rings let me know, and I’ll help, if you want.” She says uncertain as to whether he would be okay with that.

“I’d like that.” Coulson responds and the pair drift into silence.

* * *

 

Three days later Skye is once again up early so that she can say goodbye to her Dad, Uncle Clint and тетя Наташа who are all leaving for the New York field base.

“Look after him for us.” Skye says to Clint as she hugs him goodbye.

“Of course, look after your Mom Kid.” Clint tells her.

“Stay safe with whatever Fury is having you do.” Skye says to her aunt as she hugs her goodbye.

“I’ll do my best.” Natasha tells Skye. “Memorize what is on this card and then destroy it.” Natasha says as she slips a card into Skye’s pocket.

“What is it?” Skye asks confused.

“A way for me to always find you.” Natasha reveals “If you say what is on that card to an operative from any country, any intelligent organization, then you will be safe and I will always find you.” She explains in a whisper.

“Thank you.” Skye says before breaking the hug, “If you get hurt while Mom and I are here I will kick your ass.” Skye promises her father.

“Noted.” Coulson tells her. “I love you Baby Girl.”

“Love you to Dad.” Skye says back as she hears Melinda threaten Clint.

“I left my credit card on your draws, use it if you need to.” Coulson tells Skye, “There are more than enough meals frozen to eat, the instructions are clear.” He tells her.

“You don’t have to leave your credit card, we’ll be fine.” Skye tells her father.

“I know, but I want to.” Coulson tells her. “Don’t be afraid to call me if you need.”

“I’ll call if I have to.” Skye assures her father.

“Do what your doctor tells you Mel. I want my second in command back as soon as I can.” Coulson tells Melinda.

“I’ll do my best.” Melinda tells Coulson and the pair kiss.

“Come on we’ve got to get going. With traffic we’re already going to be ten minutes late for Fury.” Clint reveals several minutes later.

“Which means twenty minutes earlier than when he was expecting you.” Melinda comments.

“True, but we shouldn’t push it.” Natasha comments.

“Let’s go.” Coulson comments and with one last look at his daughter and the woman he loves Coulson leaves Natasha and Clint right behind him.

“It’s going to be odd with just us here.” Skye comments as she helps her mother back to the couch.

“Yeah it is, but you know what we can do?” Melinda asks her daughter.

“No, what’s that?” Skye asks confused.

“Play Grease as loud as we want.” Melinda says with a smile and Skye laughs.

“Do you want to continue with Lost?” Skye asks her mother interested as the day before she actually got her mother to start watching it.

“Sure, I want to know what happened to Claire.” Melinda reveals.

“Awesome.” Skye comments before putting the DVD on.

* * *

 

When they get to the New York field office Coulson and Clint have a brief talk with Fury before heading to the plane. Once they have left Fury starts to brief Natasha on her mission.

“So you want me to become a part of Quinn’s lawyer’s firm and see what I can find out?” Natasha asks once the briefing ends.

“Yes. We still don’t know whether Quinn is alive or dead which means we have no leads on the Clairvoyant. The only thing we do know is that Quinn’s lawyer knows something, we need to know just what.” Fury tells Natasha.

“Of course Sir.” Natasha responds.

“Here’s your cover.” Fury says handing Natasha a folder, “Good Luck Agent Romanoff.” He says before leaving the room and Natasha alone to become who she has to for the mission.

 

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	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** Thank you so much for your extended support to this story and me, it means more than I can put into words.

* * *

 

They day after Coulson, Clint and Natasha leave. Skye and Melinda themselves are making their way to the New York Field office in Melinda’s car for their medical check-ups.

“So you are actually going to listen to what the Doctor tells you to do, aren’t you?” Skye asks her mother curious as she drives them.

“You sound like your father.” Melinda comments.

“Well it’s a valid concern, neither you or Dad are any good at listening to Doctor’s instructions.” Skye tells her mother.

“You’re not much better.” Melinda tells her, “I seem to remember you not listening to Doctor Streiten’s instructions when it came to bed rest.” Melinda reminds her.

“True, but I got that for you guys so technically it’s your fault.” Skye comments with a grin.

“Oh is it?” Melinda asks as they pull up to the gates.

“Yep.” Skye answers.

“Id’s.” The guard requests.

“Here.” Melinda says handing hers to the guard.

“I don’t have one.” Skye reminds her mom.

“Just give your license, you’re on the list of visitors today. Fury arranged it.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Right.” Skye says grabbing her purse out of the cup tray and handing over her license.

“Okay Agent May, Ms Coulson, Dr Streiten is waiting If you would just follow the agent ahead of you instructions.” The Guard instructs.

“Thank you.” Melinda says getting her ID back.

“So we’re really not bothering with the whole hiding who I am thing anymore, am I?” Skye asks surprised.

“It’s classified level seven.” Melinda reveals.

“My identity is classified?” Skye asks surprised.

“Yep.” Melinda answers.

“Wait aren’t FItzSImmons only level five? And I didn’t think the Avengers were level seven.” Skye comments.

“There not. There are a few exceptions and not all level seven and above agents know, only a very vey small number.” Melinda reveals

“Good, I’m proud to be your daughter, yours and Dad’s I don’t want to hide that.” Skye comments

“We’re proud that you are our daughter.” Melinda tells her.

“I thought you guys were worried about the danger if my identity got out.” Skye comments.

“We were, we are, but it seems like a lot of bad people have figured it out anyway.” Melinda explains, “You’re identity is still classified just not quite as classified as it was.” Melinda explains.

“Okay, cool.” Skye comment, not sure how she feels about her identity being classified but glad that she doesn’t have to hide who she is.

“So where exactly do we go?” Skye asks confused as she parks the car.

“Follow me.” Melinda tells her daughter as she un does her seatbelt and they both exit the car.

* * *

 

An hour later Skye and Melinda exit the S.H.I.E.L.D facility. Melinda being told by Doctor Streiten that she has two weeks of bed rest and at least two to three weeks of physical therapy before she is allowed back on the bus. Skye’s news is a lot better as she has gotten her cast removed two weeks early because he bones have healed.

“Why did you want to keep it?” Melinda asks her daughter surprised as Skye asked if she could keep her cast, a request Doctor Streiten approved.

“Because it’s cool. “ Skye comments, “FItzSimmons and Ward drew all over it for me, I like it.” Skye admits.

“Well make sure you use that spray that Streiten gave you on it, otherwise it will make your room smell and you will throw it out.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Yes Mom.” Skye responds with a smile, “I better call Dad, I told him I would.” Skye says pulling her phone out of her pocket and calling her Dad.

“Hey Dad.” Skye says when he answers.

“Hey Skye, are you finished at the doctors yet?” Coulson asks very happy to hear from his daughter as even though it has only been a day he has missed her a lot.

“Yep walking out now.” Skye answers.

“And?” Coulson asks curious.

“Mom’s still got another couple of weeks of bed rest, but I got my cast off.” Skye informs her father.

“That’s great Honey.” Coulson tells her. “Did you Mom take it badly?” Coulson asks curious.

“Not as bad as I was expecting her to, but yeah.” Skye answers.

“Give me the phone Skye.” Melinda request.

“She wants to talk to you and she looks angry, say hello to Uncle Clint and everyone for me.” Skye says before she hands her phone to her mother.

“Hey Mel.” Coulson says.

“Don’t hey Mel me.” Melinda tells Coulson, “You shouldn’t give me a hard time about not listening to my doctors, not after what you did.” Melinda tells him.

Thankfully before Coulson can comment and get himself in even more trouble there is a knock at the door and through the phone line Melinda hears Clint’s voice saying that they have a mission.

“Did you hear that? I’ve got to go.” Coulson says hanging up the phone, “Clint for once your timing is amazing. Thank you.” Coulson tells his friend.

“What did you say this time to make Mels angry?” Clint asks curious.

“Not listening to her doctors.” He explains.

“Ah, she’s going to be angry next time you talk.” Clint tells his friend.

“I know.” Coulson admits and the pair head downstairs.

* * *

 

Later that night once she I sure her mother has gone to bed Skye sits on the floor in her room and tries to do what she told her Dad that she wouldn’t, practice with her powers. As she sits she realises while she knows the science behind her Electrical Activity power she doesn’t know how to use it and even though she doesn’t know the science behind her knowing power she knows how to use it.

“Okay Skye, close your eyes. Focus on knowing something.” Skye says to herself before just focusing on her breathing. Once she is focused on her breathing she starts to think about knowing something without a doubt, she has no idea what but she just let’s herself think that there is something that she knows without a doubt after more than ten minutes the something comes to her, her mother’s having a nightmare.

Opening her eyes Skye quickly gets up and walks across the hallway to her parent’s room. When she’s there she gently pushes open the door and when she does she sees her Mother having a silent nightmare.

“Mom, wake up.” Skye says sitting close to her mother on the edge of the bed but not touching her.

“Mom, wake up.” Skye repeats a little louder, “Mom.” She says even louder and that does the trick.

“Skye? What’s going on are you okay?” Melinda ask worried once she wakes.

“I’m fine.” Skye answers, “You were having a nightmare, I heard when I went to the bathroom so I came and woke you up.” Skye explains hoping her mother doesn’t realise that her nightmare was silent.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“It’s fine.” Skye assures her, “What were you dreaming about?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Melinda tells Skye not wanting her to worry about her.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure, go back to bed, I’ll be okay.” Melinda assure Skye.

“If you’re sure.” Skye comments.

“I’m sure, go.” Melinda tells Skye and Skye nods, gives her mother a hug before leaving the room.

Once she is back in her room Skye doesn’t go to bed but instead sits on the ground once more.

“Okay, that was good.” Skye says to herself, “Now let’s see if I can do anything with that other power of mine.” She comments.

For almost an hour Skye tries to do something with the electrical activity that she has inside of her, mainly trying to push it out of her in a way like she did to save her mother. She is just about to stop for the night when she looks down at her right end and sees a tiny bit of electricity circling around one of her fingers being so shocked about what she sees Skye screams out before she can stop herself and within a couple of seconds Melinda bursts into her room.

“Sorry, Sorry, Sorry.” Skye tells her mother quickly.

“What happened? Are you alright?” Melinda ass worried looking like she is about to spring into action.

“I’m fine, I didn’t mean to scream. I’m sorry for scaring you.” Skye tells her mother.

“Why did you scream?” Melinda asks curious as she walks over and sits on Skye’s bed.

“Don’t be mad.” Skye comments getting up off the floor and sitting next to her mother.

“Not the greatest way to start an explanation Skye.” Melinda informs her daughter.

“Yeah, I realised that right after I said it.” Skye admits, “I was trying to use my powers and I got a little shocked when I actually managed to push a small bit of electricity out.” Skye explains.

“That’s how you knew I was having a nightmare.” Melinda realise.

“Yeah.” Skye answers, “It’s odd, I know more about how the electrical base power works than the knowing power, but I seem to have more control over the knowing, maybe because I’ve been using it for years, where before I brought you back I don’t think I have ever used the electrical power.” Skye explains.

“What do you mean?” Melinda asks interested.

“Whenever I hack anything I know what to do. I thought it was just because Computer Science just comes naturally to me and I was right in a way it does, I know what to do thanks to my power. So I’ve been using it for years, my electrical activity power on the other hand, I haven’t so even though I know the science behind it I don’t know how to use it.” Skye explains to her mother hoping that she won’t get in too much trouble for using her powers.

“And that worries you.” Melinda realises.

“Yeah.” Skye admits, “I pushed a lot of that electrical energy out of me and it brought you back, which is so great and so good but what if next time hurt someone without meaning to? Now that I know I can I could push out electricity and really hurt someone. I know that Dad’s worried about the affects my abilities have on me and it’s a valid concern but I’m more worried about hurting someone else.” Skye reveals.

Melinda understands what Skye is saying but like Coulson she is concerned about the effects that using her abilities will have on Skye so she comes up with a compromise that she hopes Skye is okay with, “Let’s make a deal.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Okay?” Skye asks confused.

“You can practice with your power any time you want, but you tell me when you do and stop if I say to.” Melinda suggests.

“What do you mean stop when you say to?” Skye asks interested “Because I mean stopping after five minutes because you’re worried about me wouldn’t be fair.”

“I know. Which is why I will only tell you if I think you’re draining yourself to much or if I think you’re losing control or becoming to frustrated or emotional. I will tell you to stop if I think you’re emotional or physical wellbeing is compromised or being hurt, and you will stop. Sound fair?” Melinda asks realising that Coulson’s idea of stopping Skye from using her powers at all until she is back on the bus isn’t going to work.

“Yeah, that sounds fair.” Skye tells her mother.

“Good, get some sleep. You can try again tomorrow.” Melinda tells her.

“Actually I was going to talk to you about that in the morning, I was thinking about maybe going into the city tomorrow to do some shopping, would that be okay?”

“Yeah, that will be fine.” Melinda tells her daughter

“Cool, will you be fine?” Skye asks worried, “Because I can stay home if you need, push back my shopping trip back a couple of weeks, I really wouldn’t mind.” Skye tells her mother not wanting to leave her alone if she thinks it’s going to be a problem.

“I’ll be fine, you should go.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“You sure?” Skye asks worried, “I won’t be long I just want to get some new jeans and a couple new jackets. Nothing major.” She comments.

“Skye I will be fine.” Melinda assures her daughter, “I don’t have to have my oxygen levels constantly monitored now so I can be alone.”

“But you’re still on bed rest.” Skye points out.

“True, but I can move if I have to.” Melinda reminds her, “I’ll be fine.” She once again assures her.

“Okay, cool.”

“Do you want to take the car?” Melinda asks interested.

“And try and find parking in New York? No way. I’ll catch the bus.” Skye tells her mother amused at the suggestion.

“Probably a better idea.” Melinda tells her, “I’ll let you get some sleep.” Melinda tells her.

“You should get some too.” Skye tells her mother as she stands up.

“I’ll try.” Melinda tells her, “Night Sweetheart.”

“Night Mom.” Skye responds and Melinda leaves her daughters room.

* * *

 

The next day Skye sleeps in to about eleven am before getting up and getting ready for her shopping trip. After several minutes of her Mother assuring her that she will be okay and Skye promising her mother that she will be careful Skye leaves and makes her way into the city.

Skye has been in the city more than a couple of hours, and has replaced the jacket she had to get rid of when hiding from Quinn and super soldiers with a couple of new ones when she spots a group of Rising Tide members, a couple of whom are a part of the five that she told her parents about when she first received Lard’s email. Pretty sure that they have spotted her Skye tries to come up with something to do, she knows that if they manage to catch up to her it won’t be good and it will take her too long to get back to the house. Looking around she realise where she is and comes up with the perfect place to go. Almost positive that she is being followed Skye walks quickly walks and weaves her way through people and within a few minutes she finds herself outside of Stark tower.

“Hi, I need to see Mr Stark.” Skye says to the security guard.

“Do you have an appointment?” The guard asks curious.

“No.”

“Then I’m sorry but I can’t let you in.” The Guard responds.

“Look this is important, I really need to see him.” Skye tells the guard as she sees the rising tide members turn the corner.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the rules. If you don’t have an appointment then I can’t let you in. It’s a simple as that, you’re going to have to leave.” The Guard.

“Look, I know Mr Stark and trust me, he will want to see me. If you don’t let me up then I can call him and tell him that you won’t let me in and believe me it wouldn’t be too good for you if that were to happen.” Skye bluffs.

“What’s your name?” the Guard asks.

“Skye Coulson.”  Skye tells him realising that the saying the name, her name, feels right.

“Hang on a minute.” The Guard tells Skye as she looks around and realises that the Rising Tide members are blending among the crowed obviously planning on doing something when she isn’t talking to a security guard.

“Mr Stark Sir, I have a young woman here wanting to be let up. No she doesn’t. I said that but she said that she knows you sir, and that you would want to see her. Skye Coulson Sir. Of course Sir. Sorry Sir. Right away Sir.” The Guard says through the coms.

“Ms Coulson, my apologies ma’am. You should have said that you are on the anytime visitor list.” The Guard tells Skye.

“I didn’t realises I was.” Skye admits.

“Well you are any time you want to visit you just tell the whoever is out here that you are on the list and you will be let right up, my apologies for the mix up. Mr Stark is waiting for you.” He tells her opening the door and letting Skye through.

“Thank you.” Skye responds and the second she enters the building she feels safer.

“Ms Coulson, Mr Stark has given you permissions to use his private elevator. Go right up to the top.” Another guard tells her as she walks across the lobby.

“Um thanks, which one is that?” Skye asks confused noticing the many different elevators.

“This one ma’am.” The Guard says unlocking the elevator and letting Skye in.

A minute later Skye exits the elevator on the highest floor and when she does she sees Tony waiting for her.

“Well if it isn’t my favourite Coulson, what do I owe the pleasure?” Tony asks when he sees Skye.

“Favourite Coulson?” Skye asks amused, “Better not let my Mom here you say that.”

“You’re Mom’s technically not a Coulson, not anymore or yet, I’m little confused about that.” He comments.

“So’s the rest of the world.” Skye comments.

“Ah, but you have a bit more knowledge than the rest of the world.” Tony points out.

“True.” Skye admits.

“Well share, what’s the latest?” he asks interested.

“Who are you trying to win a bet against?” Skye asks interested because he is showing way too much interest.

“Hill.”

“Of course.” Skye comments amused.

“So you didn’t answer my question, what’s with the visit?” Tony asks interested.

“I was being followed by some not to good people from my past, needed to get somewhere safe before they catch up to me. Here was the closes safe place I knew.” Skye explains.

“Well you’re safe now. Give me a second, JARVIS alert security that all visitors and personal regardless of whether they have an appointment must be run pass me before they can enter the tower.” Tony says.

“Yes Sir.” Jarvis responds.

“Thanks.” Skye says thankful.

“Any time.” Tony responds, “So how is your Mom doing?” He ask interested because the last time he saw Melinda was a couple of days after she woke up and she wasn’t doing too good.

“She’s doing okay, she had a check-up yesterday and even though she’s still got a long way to go she’s doing good.” Skye reveals.

“Good, that’s good.” He responds.

“Yeah is.” Skye tells him, “This is a really good view.” Skye comments looking out at the window.

“It’s not that great when you are falling after being thrown through the window by an Asgardian and your suit is taking it’s time. Trust me on that.” Tony tells Skye causing her to laugh.

“Guess it wouldn’t be.” Skye responds, “Most of this was destroyed right, in the battle?” She comments remembering.

“Yeah, but I rebuilt it, I do that.” He explains.

“Nice job.” Skye tells him impressed with what he managed to do.

“So Electro-Girl you figured out those powers of yours yet?” Stark asks interested several minutes later.

“I told you not to call me that.” Skye reminds him.

“No actually you didn’t, your lovely Aunt Natasha gave me a lovely little incentive not to say it again, you didn’t say anything about it.” Tony points out.

“And I told you, no name, I’m not a hero.” Skye reminds the billionaire.

“You brought your Mom back to life Skye, I’d say that is pretty heroic.” Tony tells the young woman, “Hero’s don’t feel like heroes, trust me on that. I spent most my time around the words heroes and not a single one of us feel like it. Your Dad’s a hero and from what I’ve seen so is your Mom, and I guarantee that neither of them would consider themselves to be. Heroes come in all different sorts Skye, but one thing we’ve all got in common is that we’re pretty messed up but capable of great things, you’re already a hero.” Tony tells Skye telling her the words that he wished he had been told when he needed to hear them the most.

“Thanks Tony.” Skye tells him his words truly meaning a lot to her.

“You’re welcome.” Tony comments hoping that he helped her even if it’s just a little bit.

“Oh and to answer your question, I was actually working with my powers last night.” She reveals.

“Really? I would have thought Daddy would have told you not to until FitzSimmons can monitor you, especially after what happened when you brought your Mom back.” Tony comments surprised.

“He did.”

“So you’re using your powers even though your Dad told you not to, risky.” Tony reveals though he is amused that she is.

“Yeah it is, but Mom and I came up with a deal.” Skye reveals.

“So how’s it going? Have you figured them out yet?” Stark asks truly interested.

“Kind a.” Skye admits walking over and siting on the couch. “I still have no idea how to manipulate and use my electrical energy, I actually screamed when I did last night, but I’m starting to figure out the knowing part more.” Skye explains, “It’s odd that I can control one more than the other and the one I can’t control is the one I know more of the science behind.” She admits.

“Maybe you just have to figure out the right trigger.” Tony suggests.

“What do you mean?” Skye asks interested.

“Well while it defiantly seems like the powers are connected maybe they have different triggers or need a different thing behind it.” Tony suggest, “Rania said that the Clairvoyant wanted your father so that they could bring their Super Soldiers back to life, but you, who according to Quinn has the same powers, was able to bring back your mother. There has to be a reason for that.” Stark explain remembering what he found out when he hacked S.H.I.E.L.D for information after he found out Coulson was alive.

“You think the desire, the reason behind using the power matters.” Skye realises feeling like it makes a lot of sense.

“Maybe.” Tony comments, “What is it?” He asks when he realises that Skye has an odd look on her face.

“I didn’t save Mom just because I didn’t want her to die.” Skye reveals, “Yes that was a huge part of it but I also wanted her to live because I knew that Dad couldn’t live without her and that it would destroy Uncle Clint and тетя Наташа, I saved her for them as well.” Skye explains.

“The energy that you put into your Mom to save her it hurt you right?” Tony asks.

“Yeah.” Skye answers.

“Maybe that’s why the Clairvoyant can’t do what you did.” Tony comments.

“Explain please, not all of us as smart as you.” Skye comments

Tony smiles at the compliment but instead of commenting on that he begins his explanation “You said it yourself you didn’t save your mother just for you but for others as well, that’s a selfless decision and to save her you hurt yourself. Something I doubt the Clairvoyant would be willing to do. Maybe to be able to get control of the Electrical part of your power you just have to find the right trigger and have the right reasons.” He explains.

“That makes sense.” Skye tells him.

“You said you’re mostly got the hang of your knowing power right?” Tony asks.

“Yeah, kind of.” Skye answers.

“Show me.” Tony request.

“How? It’s a passive power.” Skye comments confused about what he wants her to do.

“Tell me what I’m thinking.” Tony tells the teenager.

“I don’t think it works like that.” Skye comments amused.

“Well you don’t know unless you try, so try.” Tony tells her.

“Okay.” Skye says before closing her eyes.

For several minutes Skye gets herself into a state of relaxation then once she is in the state she focuses on the single thought of that she knows what Tony Stark is thinking and several minutes later she does and she can’t help but burst out laughing, “Really?” She ask amused.

“Well let’s hear it.” Tony comments both nervous and slightly doubtful that she found it out.

“You were thinking about a dream you had last night, you woke up naked in your bed but when you turned it wasn’t Pepper next to you but Captain America.” Skye says with a grin.

“Impressive, you did it.”  Tony comments, “But you know, with the way you’re Dad worships him I wouldn’t be surprised if he has had the same dream.” He informs her.

“I do not want to think about that.” Skye tells Tony looking disgusted and Tony laughs.

“So now you know that you can read minds.” Tony tells her.

“You do realises I am never going to let you forget this right?” Skye asks amused.

“I figured, but that reminds me, there’s someone who will want to meet you.” He comments standing up.

“Your dream boy?” Skye asks following him.

 “I will give you a million dollars if you never bring that up around people.” Tony promises Skye.

“Relax, and keep your money, I won’t.” Skye assures him “I will however use it against you for my own personal amusement whenever no one else is around.” Skye promises him. 

“She-Coulson you are a horrible, horrible person.” Tony tells Skye making it clear that he is joking.

“What can I say Tony, I’m my parent’s daughter.” Skye tells him with a grin.

“I would say you’ve been spending too much time around your Aunt actually,” He comments, “You know if you going to regularly blackmail me then you probable should add an Uncle to that, just so that I can feel better about the whole thing.” Tony tells her.

“Okay then, Uncle Tony.” Skye says with a grin.

“You’re going to make my life very interesting, aren’t you?” Tony ask Skye curious as they reach the door to Steve Rogers’s private rooms.

“Oh yeah” Skye answers, “But from what I know you like thing’s to be interesting.” Skye tells him as he knocks on the door.

For a couple of minutes Tony and Skye wait outside Steve’s door until it opens and as soon as it does Skye stares at the man standing before her.

“What is Stark?” Steve asks

“There’s someone you should meet.” Tony tells him, “Steve Rogers, this is May Skye Philippa Coulson, Agent Coulson’s daughter. Skye this is Captain Steve Rogers.” He introduces.

“It’s an honour Ma’am.” Steve tells Skye.

“Hi, wow, your muscles are huge.” She comments, “I mean, hi call me Skye.” She corrects.

“It’s nice to meet you Skye.” Steve tells her not fussed by her comments but Tony is laughing.

“Yeah you too.” Skye tells him, “It’s a real honour, really.” Skye tells him but before she can say anymore her phone rings.

“Mom, Dad or Boy-Toy?” Tony asks curious.

“Mom, and I really wish you wouldn’t call him that.” Skye tells him as she answers her phone.

“Boy-Toy?” Steve asks confused.

“She’s just stated a relationship with one of the agents in Coulson’s team, I call him Boy-Toy because that’s what he looks like.” Stark explains.

“Agent Coulson is okay with one of his agent’s dating his daughter?” Steve asks surprised.

“Last I knew he didn’t know.” Tony comments and Steve frowns feeling like if this Agent was going to date his boss’s daughter he should have at least asked for permission.

“No, I’m not shopping anymore I’m at Stark tower.” Skye informs her mother.

“Why? did something happen?” Melinda asks worried.

“Kind of, I kind of almost ran into so Rising Tide members and they started to follow me, so because I was close to Stark tower I came here.” Skye explains.

“Stay there.” Melinda tells her daughter, “I’ll come and get you.”

“Mom, you’re meant to be on bed rest you can’t come into the city.” Skye objects.

“Skye if there is rising tide members around then you can’t come home alone, what if someone tries something?” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Mom, I’ll be okay. You can’t come into the city I won’t have you put your recovery back because you’re worried about me.” Skye tells her mother.

“Skye may I please talk to your Mother for a minute?” Steve asks curious.

“Um Sure.” Skye say confused, “Mom there’s someone here who wants to talk to you.” Skye says handing her phone over to Steve.

“What’s he going to do?” Skye asks Tony confused.

“No idea.” Tony responds. “And after your reaction I’m guessing you’ve had the same dream.” He tells her.

“How much does he know?” Skye asks curious ignoring his second comment.

“Everything before Pep and I left Europe I got you’re fathers’ permission to tell him everything.” Tony explains.

“Ma’am if you would like I can escort Skye back home so that she can be safe and you won’t jeopardise your recovery.” Steve offers.

“Thank you for the offer Captain Rogers, are you sure it won’t be an inconvenience?” Melinda asks surprised.

“Positive Ma’am, it will be my pleasure.” Steve responds.

“Thank you Captain.” Melinda tells him.

“Any time Ma’am.” Steve responds before handing the phone to Skye so that she can finish her conversation with her Mother.

“Sorry about this.” Skye tells Steve once she gets off the phone, “My parents are a bit overprotective.”

“You’ve been kidnapped twice and as far as we know you still have a mad man who has a pretty extensive network after you. I think a little overprotection is a good thing.” Tony tells Skye.

“I don’t mind, I wouldn’t have offered if I did.” Steve tells her.

“Thanks Captain.” Skye tells him, “You know this must be one of the many reason why you’re my Dad’s hero.” Skye comments and Steve isn’t sure how to respond.

“We should go, we don’t want your mother to worry anymore.” Steve suggest several minutes later.  

“Right.” Skye comments.

“You left your shopping in the other room, you might want that.” Tony comments.

“Right, be right back.” Skye comments.

“Take one of the cars.” Tony tells Steve.

“You sure?” Steve asks.

“Positive.” Tony tells him.

“Thanks.” Steve tells him.

“I’m ready to go when you are Captain.” Skye comments. “See you Uncle Tony.” She says with a grin.

“See you She-Coulson.” Tony responds and Skye and Steve leave.

* * *

 

Half an hour later Skye and Steve arrive back at the house and Steve insists that he walks Skye to the door and Skye insists that he comes in because her Mom would want to meet him.

“Captain Rogers this is my mother, Agent Melinda May.” Skye introduces when they walk into the living room. “Mom, Captain Rogers.” Skye introduces as she drops her shopping bags near the door.

“It an honour Captain.” Melinda tells him, “Thank you for bringing Skye home.”

“Of course Ma’am, it’s my pleasure.” Steve responds.

“You should stay for dinner.” Skye comments.

“Oh no, I wouldn’t want to put you out.” Steve comments.

“Phil doesn’t trust our cooking so he left us more than enough, you wouldn’t be putting us out.” Melinda assures the Captain. “And we would like it.”

“Then thank you, I would like that.” Steve responds.

“Great, I’ll go pick something to heat up.” Skye tells him, “Is there anything you don’t like?”

“Anything’s fine.” Steve responds.

“Cool, I’ll go get started.” Skye says leaving the kitchen hearing Steve ask Melinda how she is healing as she does. Once Skye gets to the kitchen the first thing she does is send a message on her phone before getting started on dinner.

* * *

 

Skye isn’t the only Coulson who is cooking dinner. Many miles away Phil Coulson is in the kitchen on the bus cooking dinner for the team while Clint sits at the breakfast bar doing his best to help but is really just making things worse when Coulson’s phone goes off.

“Can you check that for me?” Coulson requests.

“Sure.” Clint says getting up and walking over to the bench where Coulson left his phone.

“It’s from Skye.”

“What’s it say?” Coulson asks interested

“Mom and I are having dinner with Captain America, jealous?” Clint reads.

“What?” Coulson asks shocked. “How are they having dinner with Captain America?” Coulson asks.

“Wow Man, green really doesn’t suit you.” Clint comments with an amused smirk and then he has to avoid being hit by a carrot that Coulson threw at him.

 

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	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** THANK YOU ALL SO SO MUHC. ALSO You will recognize a line from episode thirteen in here because I couldn’t resist using it.

* * *

 

It has been a week since Skye went to Stark tower and Steve Rogers had dinner with the Coulson women. It is the middle of the night and Skye wakes up thirsty. As she gets up and walks downstairs she is surprised to find her Mother sitting on the couch in the dark.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Skye asks worried walking over.

“Nothing.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Yes there is.” Skye tells her mother sitting down next to her cross legged. “Do you want me to pull out the double chocolate ice-cream to make you talk?” Skye asks curious “Because I will.”

Melinda manages a small smile back but doesn’t say anything. 

“Wait, have you been crying?” Skye asks worried.

“A little.” Melinda admits.

“Talk to me Mom, please.” Skye requests but Melinda is still silent, “Okay if you won’t talk to me then how about Dad? Do you want me to call him?” Skye asks her mother hoping the answer is yes.

“No, don’t call your father.”  Melinda requests.

“Is there something I can do? Anything?” Skye asks wanting to do something to help.

“No, go back to bed Skye. One of us should get some sleep.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“No way, I’m not going anywhere.” Skye tells her mother a she moves so that she is sitting right next to her mother and puts the blanket that Melinda has over her over both of them.

“I love you Mom, if you ever want to talk I’m here.” Skye tells her mother.

“You didn’t even consider using your Powers to find out what’s wrong did you?” Melinda asks the minutes later

“Of course not.” Skye tells her mother “You obviously didn’t want to talk about it so I won’t force you.”

“Thank you.” Melinda tells her daughter knowing how much she hates secrets and appreciating that she won’t use a way she has to find out what’s wrong even though she could.

“Of course.” Skye responds.

Half an hour Skye has fallen asleep but Melinda is still awake thinking about a lot of different things one of which is that she wishes she could have a drink.

* * *

 

When Skye wakes up the next morning he finds her Mom looking just as awake as she did hours earlier.

“Did you get any sleep?” Skye asks her mother curious.

“A little.” Melinda lies not wanting to worry Skye more.

“Which means you really got none.” Skye realises. “Don’t lie to me, please Mom.” Skye requests.

“I don’t want you to worry about me.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I’ll worry more if I know you’re lying.” Skye tells her mother clearly not happy with being lied to.

“I’m sorry Skye.” Melinda tells her, “My sleeping habits, how I’m doing, and other questions like that are all questions I am used to lying about. Even to your Dad and Aunt and Uncle, but like you they know when I’m lying, but I still try. I don’t like people worrying about me.” Melinda explains to Skye wanting to get her to understand that she didn’t lie to hurt her.

“I’m going to worry Mom. For the first time in my life I have people that I truly love and care for enough to worry about, and that’s you and Dad and everyone else. I’m going to worry, just like you worry about me.” Skye tells her mother.

“I’ll try to answer honestly in the future.” Melinda tells her daughter, “But you’ve got to try and do the same.”

“Deal.” Skye responds, “Do you want breakfast from that Dinner up the road again?” Skye asks curious.

“That would be good.”

“Usual?” Skye asks curious and Melinda nods.

“I’ll get changed and then get going.” Skye says moving the blanket off her and heading upstairs.

* * *

 

Half an hour later and Skye is walking down the front steps out of the house when her phone rings. Looking down at the caller id she smiles when she sees it.

“Hey.” She says answering.

“Hi, I didn’t wake you did I. I didn’t realise what the time was until after I already pressed call.” Ward’s worried voice answers.

“No you didn’t wake me, I’m actually on my way to get breakfast for me and Mom. What is the time anyway?” She asks realising that she doesn’t know.

“About six forty five, your time.” Ward answers “Why are you going to get breakfast don’t you have food at your house?” Ward asks confused.

“Yeah we do, but neither me nor Mom want to risk doing anything to Dad’s kitchen so we get our breakfast from this local diner and either have take out or very carefully heat up meals Dad made us for dinner.” Skye explains.

“What about lunch?” Ward asks realising that she forgot one meal.

“Whatever.” Skye answers, “Two days ago we each ate about two boxes of chocolate each for lunch.” Skye admits truthfully.

“When you get back here I will not make training easier on you just because you have spent six weeks eating crap.” Ward reveals.

“Don’t worry, once Mom is off bed rest we’re going to start working out together.” Skye explains, remembering the conversation that happened when they were eating said boxes of chocolate, as she enters the dinner.

“Good.” Ward respond.

“Hold on a sec.” She says into the phone, “Hi can I get two large coffees to go and two big breakfasts, scrambled eggs in one sunny side up in the other also to go.” She says to the person behind the counter

“Will be about ten minutes.”

“Thanks.” Skye says walking over to a table, “You still there?”

“Yeah I’m here.” Ward answers. “Oh FitzSimmons wanted me to say hello to you and to tell you that you better call them.”

“I’ll call them later.” Skye comments, “How’s everything going?”

“Good. Your Dad clearly misses you and May, but Agent Barton is keeping him in line.”

“How exactly is he doing that?” Skye asks worried.

“Mainly being as annoying as possible so Coulson has to deal with him instead of how much he misses you guys.” Ward explains.

“Please tell me you are getting pictures.” Skye requests.

“I believe FItzSimmons has been filming it for you.” Ward informs her.

“Awesome”

“So what have you been doing?” Ward asks curious as he walks out into the living area

“Hanging around with Mom mainly.” Skye answers, “We’ve been watching a lot of movies and TV. I think we’re well above double digits for the amount of times we’ve watched Grease.” Skye reveals.

“Is that my Niece?” Clint’s voice asks though the phone line.

“Put him on.” Skye requests.

 “Hey Kid.” Clint tells Skye.

“Hey Uncle Clint.” Skye tells her Uncle. “So Ward said you’re making things harder on Dad.” Skye tells her Uncle.

“Just to distract him because you and Mels aren’t here.” Clint answers, “It’s all in good fun.” He explains as Skye collects and pays for her order and walks out of the dinner.

“Does he know that?” Skye asks curious.

“Of course he does.” Clint answers, “But he deserves some of it.”

“Why?” Skye asks interested.

“Because due to the fact that Mels can’t drink he has banned all alcohol on the bus.” Clint explains.

“Seriously?” Skye asks shocked. “He does realise that by the time Mom is back on the bus she’ll be able to drink again, right?” Skye asks surprised.

“I don’t think he does.” Clint answers.

“Has there been a mutiny yet?” Skye asks curious.

“Not yet, but It’s pretty close to it.” Clint answers.

“You know the cupboard in my bunk where I keep a whole bunch of food?” Skye asks her Uncle.

“Yeah, of course I do.” Clint responds confused about why she is mentioning it.

“Right at the back of the cupboard there are several bottles of cheap stuff if you get desperate.” Skye informs her Uncle.

“Thanks Kid.” Clint says sincerely.

“Now tell the truth. Are you still being horrible to my boyfriend Uncle Clint?” Skye asks.

“YOU’RE WHAT?” Coulson’s voice asks.

“I’m on speaker aren’t I?” Skye asks becoming worried.

“Kind of, yeah.” Clint answers.

“A little warning please next time.” Skye tells her Uncle as she walks in the front door.

“Sorry, how was I meant to know you would say that just as your Dad walked over?”

“Look Dad I can explain.” Skye comments causing Melinda to look up at her confused.

“Try, Agent Ward go wait in my office.” Coulson instructs.

“Look we kissed just after Mom woke up, which Director Fury and Agent Hill saw on the camera’s so everyone knew within minutes.” Skye explains, “We’ve been trying to figure things out. Please don’t Kill Grant Dad.” Skye request.

“Why will Phil want to kill Ward?” Melinda asks confused, “What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain in a minute.” Skye tells her mother, “Dad?” She asks worried.

“I’m still here.” Coulson comments, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner? I’m guessing from what I can hear of you mother that she didn’t know either.” He comments.

“No she didn’t.” Skye answers, “Am I off speaker?” she asks.

“Yeah.” Coulson answers.

“Because we kissed when Mom woke up and had a brief talk about how we wanted to be together but we haven’t seen each other since. But he’s already been threatened by Tony and Uncle Clint and I’m not sure who else, but I assume to тетя Наташа as well and possibility, Hill and Fury or FitzSimmons. What if he realises that being with me is too complicated? What if by the time Mom and I get back to the plane he doesn’t want to be with me?” Skye asks her Dad, “I didn’t tell you when we first kissed because you hadn’t slept in days and I haven’t told you since because I didn’t know where the relationship was going and you and Mom are the most important people to me and I didn’t want to change that, I don’t want you guys to hate me, but what if he finds someone better while I’m gone, and maybe.” Skye begins to say but she starts to hyperventilate 

“SKYE.” Melinda says worried rushing to her daughters’ side as fast as she can.

“Hey look at me, breath, just breathe sweetheart.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“SKYE? MEL?” Coulson’s voice asks through the phone that Skye has dropped on the ground.

“She’s having a panic attack.” Melinda informs Coulson through the phone.

“Mels get her to focus on you.” Clint says stealing the phone out of Coulson’s hand knowing what to do because he and Natasha have helped her through a panic attack before, “Breathe deeply in and out and get her to copy you as you do. Talk her through it.” Clint instructs.

“Okay, Skye look at me.” Melinda tells her daughter, “Just breathe in and out, like this.” Melinda says doing what Clint described.

For ten minutes Melinda does what Clint describes and slowly Skye gets her breathing under control.

“I’m okay now.” Skye tells her mother.

“We will never hate you.” Melinda tells her daughter, “Never, and if Ward doesn’t see how amazing you are then he’s an idiot.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Thanks.” Skye tells her Mother. “Dad.” She realises picking up the phone off the ground.

“Yeah, I’m here Baby Girl. Are you alright?” he asks worried.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Skye assures her father.

“You’re Mom’s right, we can never hate you.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Thanks Daddy.” Skye says calling him Daddy for the first time because at the moment she feels like a little kid, not a grown adult.

“I’ve got a specialist waiting in my office, so I better go talk to him.” Coulson comments.

“Don’t be too hard on him.” Skye requests, “Please Dad.” She requests.

“He wants to date my baby girl, I’m not going to be easy on him.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Okay just have Uncle Clint there, you won’t kill him if there is a witness.” Skye comments.

“You’re Uncle Clint might help.” Coulson reminds her.

“Maybe, but we have a deal.” Skye comments. “Love you Dad.” Skye tells him.

“Love you to Baby Girl.” Coulson tells him, “Tell your Mom that I will talk to her later.” Coulson requests.

“I will.” Skye tells her father “And Dad, no matter what happens between me and Ward you’ll always be my number one guy.” Skye says before hanging up.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Melinda asks worried

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Skye assures her mother, “This isn’t weird is it? Me and ward having a relationship after the thing you guys had?” she asks her mother worried.

“You know about that?” Melinda asks shocked as she didn’t know that she did.

“I heard you guys fighting before Dad was taken, remember.” Skye comments, “I figured it out. Not sure on when it ended though.” Skye admits remembering when she first found out that she was upset but that was quickly over shadowed by Coulson’s abduction.

“When you’re Dad was hurt.” Melinda tells Skye “Phil did what he has done ever time in the last twenty years when he finds out that I was seeing someone, he threatened Ward. We ended things because we didn’t want it to get complicated, it was never meant to be anything more than a fling. He realised that I still had feelings for your father and I think he was starting to realise he liked you.” Melinda explains.

“Is that why you guys stopped talking?” Skye asks realising that the timeline matches up.

“Yeah, are you okay with this?” Melinda asks worried because from what she has seen Skye really likes Ward and she wouldn’t want her fling with Ward to jeopardise something that could be good for her daughter.

“It’s odd, I’m not going to lie, but I like him Mom, I guess we’ll see how it goes.” Skye tells her mother. “Now I’m hungry. How about we get started on this breakfast.” Skye says pulling the bag with their food over.

“Sounds good.” Melinda tells her daughter and the pair get started on their breakfast sitting on the floor next to each other in the living room.

* * *

 

“Why didn’t you tell me that Skye has panic attacks?” Coulson asks his friend once Skye has hung up the phone.

“Because she asked me not to, she said she was going to tell you and Mels in her own time. She used to have them a lot when she was a teenager and she’s had a few in the last few months. That’s all I know, if she hadn’t told you guys in the next few weeks I was going to, but I wanted to give her a chance to tell you herself.” Clint explains to his friend.

“The panic attack you and Tasha helped her through, what was it about?” Coulson asks interested.

“It was the third day after Mels woke, you remember the one. Mels oxygen levels got dangerously low and you sent us to the plane for the night. It was then both Nat and I realised what was going on right away and Nat was able to help her through it, that’s how I knew what to do.” Clint explains.

“Thank you.” Coulson tells his friend.

“Of course.” Clint responds.

“I’ve got to go talk to Ward.” Coulson tells his friend.

“I’m coming with you.” Clint tells his friend.

“What is this deal you and Skye have?” Coulson asks his friend interested.

“I won’t hurt or maim Ward unless he does something to deserve it.” Clint explains as they walk up the stairs.

When Coulson and Clint enter Coulson’s office they find Ward waiting by the couch.

“First my wife now my daughter?” Coulson asks angrily.

“Hang on what?” Clint asks confused, “You had a thing with Mels?” he ask a hint of anger

“You didn’t know?” Coulson ask surprised.

“No, why would I?” Clint asks surprised.

“Tasha knows.” Coulson answers.

“Huh.” Clint comments surprised.

“Sir, this is different than what happened between Agent May and I.” Ward comments feeling like it is safe to interrupt now that Coulson and Clint have finished talking, “I really do care about Skye and I will never intentionally hurt her. She is an amazing person Sir and I want to be with her.” Ward tells the overprotective Dad and Uncle.

“From what I know she likes you as well Agent Ward and for reasons I don’t understand she wants to be with you too. If I could stop her without her ending up hating me I would, but I can’t. So here are the rules, if I even get the slightest hint that you are going to hurt her or do anything I don’t like then I will transfer you to Barrow, Alaska where you will spend the rest of your days doing the night shift guarding Blonsky's cryo-chamber, and if you do hurt her I have a team of superhero’s on speed dial, all of whom are quite protective of her who would be more than willing to make you pay in every way they know how.” Coulson tells Ward, “Do I make myself clear?” he asks.

“Yes Sir.” Ward responds.

“Dismissed.” Coulson and Clint say together.

“Blonsky’s cryo-chamber?” Clint asks his friend.

“You’ve heard the stories.” Coulson states.

“Of course, not complaining actually impressed with the creativity.” Clint tells his friend. “So now explain the whole Mels Ward thing?  I want to know whether I should accidently hit him with an Arrow during our next mission.” Clint tells his friend.

Coulson sits down behind his desk and begins the story.

* * *

 

Three days later things have settled down, Clint did ‘accidently’ hit Ward with an arrow during the latest mission, but he made sure that he did basically no damage, only graze the young specialist, because he didn’t want Skye to mad at him but he felt the need to do something.

Ever since the night that Skye woke up and found her Mother on the couch Melinda has only gotten a few hours’ sleep but as she has taken to staying in her room Skye isn’t aware of how much trouble her mother has had sleeping.

It is a little after midnight and Skye is woken by screaming coming from her mother’s room. Getting up and running into her mother’s room Skye finds her in the middle of a very bad nightmare. Skye rushes to her mother’s side and tries to shake her awake but that turns out to be the wrong choice as Melinda reacts and accidently throws her into a wall in a reflect.

“Oh god Skye, I’m so so sorry.” Melinda says rushing to Skye’s side when she wakes and realises what she did.

“I’m okay.” Skye assures her mother.

“You’re bleeding.” Melinda realising that Skye hit her head and the back is bleeding.

“I’m fine.” Skye assures her Mother, “Are you alright?” Skye asks worried.

“I hurt you, oh god Skye, I’m so sorry.” Melinda repeats becoming upset.

“Mom, I’m okay. I promise you.” Skye tells her, “You didn’t mean to, I know it.” Skye tells her mother. “Hey it’s okay.” Skye says reaching out to grab her hand.

“No, I hurt you, all I do is hurt people. I’m a horrible person.” Melinda says before racing out of the room.

“Damn it.” Skye says getting up and following her mother hearing the door to the bathroom close and lock as she does.

“Mom.” Skye says knocking on the door.

“Stay away Skye, I’ll just hurt you.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Mom it was an accident, it wasn’t your fault.” Skye tells her mother but receives no answer in responds. “Okay I need help.” Skye says walking across to her room, as she does she feels blood drip down the back of neck.

 

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	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

When Skye enters her room she pulls her hand towel down from behind her door where it hangs next to her regular size towel. Once she grabs it she puts it against the back of her head and walks over and grabs her phone and presses call on her first speed dial.

“Skye? What’s wrong? It’s midnight there.” Coulson answers worried after only two rings.  

“You need to come home.” Skye tells her father simply knowing that he is the only one who has a chance at helping her Mom because she isn’t even sure if Natasha or Clint could help at the moment.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Coulson asks worried.

“I’ll explain when you come home, Just come home Dad. I’ve got to go, just come home.” Skye says hanging up without explaining anymore.

As soon as Skye hangs up the phone Coulson almost runs down to the cockpit.

“Phil? What’s wrong?” Clint asks worried as soon as he sees his friend

“Set a course to New York.” Coulson tells him.

“Why what’s going on?” Clint asks worried.

“I don’t know. Skye just called. All she said is that I needed to come home, she wouldn’t explain anymore.” Coulson explains.

“Setting Course for New York but it will be at least six hours.” Clint tells his friend.

“That’s not quick enough.” Coulson comments.

“Ward might know something.” Clint comments.

“Why would Ward know anything?” Coulson asks.

“Because like it or not he’s her boyfriend. She might have confided in him.” Clint explains.

“I’ll go talk to him.” Coulson says.

“Agent Ward.” Coulson says walking out into the living room where Ward is playing games with FitzSimmons.

“Sir?”

“How did Skye sound the last time you spoke to her?” Coulson ask worried.

“Fine Sir.” Ward answers wondering why he is bringing it up. “Why?”

“Because she just called me saying that I need to come home but she wouldn’t explain any more than that.

“I’ll try calling her Sir, see if I can find anything out.” Ward comments.

“I would appreciate it.” Coulson tells the younger agent.

* * *

 

Once she hangs up the phone Skye puts her phone down and walks back over to the bathroom.

“Mom, let me in please.” Skye requests and she receives no answer, “Mom, are you okay?” Skye asks worried and once again receives no answer.

“Ok time for desperate action.” Skye comments going back to her room, as she does she hears her phone ring, seeing the caller Id saying Ward she ignores it because she is sure that he’s doing it for her father. Instead she walks over and grabs a bobby pin and walks back over to the bathroom.

“Mom, I’m picking the lock.” Skye tells her mother dreading what she will find when she does.

A minute later Skye gets the door open and sees her Mom huddled in the corner.

“Mom, are you okay?” Skye asks worried kneeling in front of her mother but making sure that she isn’t touching her, keeping the towel against her head as she does.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Melinda repeats.

“Mom, it’s okay.” Skye assures her mother, “It was an accident. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, it’s okay.”

“No it’s not.” Melinda tells her daughter, “I hurt you. I’m sorry Skye, I’m so sorry.” Melinda keeps repeating.

“Mom.It.Was.An.Acident.” Skye tells her mother stressing every word but it seems like her mother didn’t even hear her.

For more than twenty minutes Skye tries to get through to her mother but she has no luck. It’s almost like she is in her own world. Skye is attempting to try and think of an way that she could help her mother when she hears the doorbell.

“Now what?” Skye asks. “Mom, I’ll be right back.” Skye tells her mother before getting up and walking over to her room.

Once she is in her room she digs through her top draw and pulls out a night, night gun that her Dad left her and heads downstairs.

Once she is at the front door Skye raises the gun and opens the door a crack

“тетя Наташа?” Skye asks surprised. “What’s with the hair?” Skye asks surprised as Natasha hair is still wavy but instead of red it is now blond.  

“It’s for my mission, what’s with the gun?” Natasha asks.

“The doorbell rings at one am when I’m not expecting anyone? Of course I’m going to come armed, I think you Mom, Dad and Uncle Clint would never let me hear the end of it if I didn’t. What are you doing here?” Skye asks confused.

“You’re Dad called. He said you told him to come home, but wouldn’t say way, and wouldn’t answer Ward’s call. What’s going on?” Natasha asks worried.

 “You better come in.” Skye says opening the door fully and letting Natasha in, it’s when she does that that Natasha notices the bloody cloth that Skye is holding against her head.

“What happened?” Natasha asks worried inspecting the wound.

“Long story.” Skye answers closing and locking the door behind Natasha.

“Give me the short version.” Natasha requests then realises something, “Where’s your Mother?” She asks worried.

“Huddled in a corner in the bathroom.” Skye tells her and Natasha gives her a confused look, “She was having a nightmare and I tried to wake her and she sent me flying into a wall, hence the bleeding head. She’s blaming herself pretty bad, won’t listen to me when I tell her it was an accident, that it doesn’t matter, but it’s more than that.” Skye tells her aunt.

“What do you mean?” Natasha asks interested though she is very worried about her friend.

“A few days ago she was just sitting in the living room looking like she had been crying and I’m pretty sure that she hasn’t slept since then. Something’s wrong but she won’t talk to me.” Skye explains.

“Go sit down on the couch and keep pressure on that cut.” Natasha tells her niece, “I’ll try talking to your mom.” Natasha explains, “Upstairs bathroom?” Natasha asks.

“Yeah.” Skye responds as she walks over to the couch, trying to force the memories of a different person saying the exact same words as her mother in the exact same way out of her mind as she does.

* * *

 

After leaving her Niece Natasha heads straight up to the bathroom and when she gets there she becomes even more worried because she sees Melinda in a state that she hasn’t seen her in for a few years.

“Melinda.” Natasha comments walking over and kneeling in front of her friend.

“Natasha. I hurt her. I hurt my girl.” Melinda tells her friend the guilt clear.

“It was an accident.” Natasha tells her friend, “Skye doesn’t blame you, she’s worried about you.”

“She should hate me.” Melinda tells her friend.

“She’s never going to hate you.” Natasha tells her friend, “She knows that it was an accident.” Natasha tells her friend, “When was the last time you slept?”

“A few days.” Melinda responds.

“Nightmares?” Natasha asks curious and Melinda nods. “How bad?” She asks knowing that Melinda will know exactly what she is really asking.

“Istanbul.” Melinda answers.

At her friends answer Natasha feels her heart sink as she was hoping that the answer wouldn’t be that, but on the one bright side Natasha is quite thankful that she didn’t say Bahrain.

“I’m going to go check on Skye, I’ll be right back.” Natasha tells her friend after checking to make sure that a few certain objects aren’t around.

Once she is right outside the bathroom Natasha pulls out her phone instead of going straight downstairs.

“Well if it’s isn’t my favourite assassin. What can I do for you in the early hours of this lovely morning?” Tony Stark’s voice ask.

“I need you to send a car to the Coulson house to pick up Skye and let her stay at the tower tonight.” Natasha tells Stark hoping that he agrees because one of the only way she knows how to help Melinda at the moment isn’t something that Skye should see.

“Why? What’s happened?” Stark asks clearly worried. 

“It’s a really long story and I don’t have the time to explain at the moment, can you send a car or not?” Natasha asks her friend.

“I’ll be there in fifteen.” Tony responds.

“Thank you. I’ll explain when you get here.” Natasha tells her friend clearly grateful.

“You better.” Tony says hanging up the phone.

After Tony hangs up the Natasha heads back down stairs and walks over and sits on the coffee table in front of Skye.

“тетя Наташа, what’s going on with Mom?” Skye asks worried, “I’ve never seen her like this.”

“I know you haven’t, your Mom hoped that you never would.” Natasha tells her niece, “I know you’re Dad has told you about Bahrain and how it changed Melinda.”

“Yeah.”

“She has never talked about what happened there, there is no one expect for Melinda who knows what happened there, she has never told Phil or me or Clint or a single other person, but ever since then she has had these times where she’s in a bad place. Some times are worse than others, but I haven’t seen her this bad since she quit field work.” Natasha explains as how Melinda was after she told Melinda that Coulson died was a different type of bad.

“Why did she quit?” Skye asks interested, “She said that you to we’re on a mission but she won’t tell me anymore.”

“That’ not my place to tell you.” Natasha tells her Niece, “You’re Dad and Clint don’t even know what happened during that mission.”

“Can I help her?” Skye asks, “I know she didn’t mean to hurt me but I couldn’t get her to see that. Is there something I can do to help her?” Skye asks desperate to do something to help her mother.

“Tony Stark is on his way here, I need you to go with him and spend the night at the tower.” Natasha tells her niece.

“What? No. I want to help her тетя Наташа.” Skye tells her aunt.  

“Skye, the best way for you to help her at the moment is to go with Stark.” Natasha says reaching out and grabbing her niece’s hand

“Why?”                                      

“Because seeing Melinda like this is something you shouldn’t have to see, and when she is more like herself again she wouldn’t have wanted you to see her like that.” Natasha explains, “I know very few ways to help her when she is like this and a few of them I can’t even do at the moment. Skye the best way you can help her is to trust me to do what I have to help her through this.”

“Why do I have to leave to do that? Why can’t I stay and help?” Skye asks not understanding why her Aunt is sending her away.

“Because your Mom won’t want you to see her like this.” Natasha explains “Skye I know you want to help and If I though you staying here would help Melinda then I would let you, but it won’t. It will just hurt you.”

“I don’t care about me тетя Наташа, I care about her.” Skye tells her Aunt.

“I know you do.” Natasha tells her, “But you should care about yourself as well.” Natasha tells Skye.

“I did this, I shouldn’t have tried to shake her awake I should have known better.” Skye comments clearly looking guilty.

“No, you didn’t do this, don’t blame yourself.” Natasha tells her, “From what I’ve seen this has been coming for days, there is nothing you could have done to stop it.”

“Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help her?” Skye asks her Aunt.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Natasha answers.

“Well I don’t believe that, there has to be something I can do to help.” Skye says moving her legs so that she is sitting cross laggard on the couch.

“What are you going to do?” Natasha asks confused.

“I’ve been practicing with my powers, I’m starting to get more control over my knowing power. Electric energy power, not so much. I’m not going to think about what is going on or what’s bothering Mom because that’ not fair on her, but just on whether I can help.” Skye explains closing her eyes.

For several minutes Skye is quite just thinking about knowing whether she can help her Mother.

“You’re right.” Skye say opening her eyes.

“I know I am, but how do you?” Natasha asks curious.

“I just focused on knowing whether you were right or not and I know that you’re right, I should go with Stark, I don’t understand why and I don’t like it, but I know I should.” Skye explains.

“I’ll do whatever I can do to help her Skye.” Natasha tells her niece.

“Thank you.” Skye says giving her Aunt a hug. “I should go get changed.” Skye says heading upstairs.

* * *

 

Instead of heading straight to her room Skye heads to the bathroom.

“Hey.” Skye says squatting down in front of her mother. “I’m going to Stark Tower for the night.” Skye tells her Mother, “Mom I know you didn’t mean to hurt me and I’m not upset or angry. I love you, and that’s doesn’t change anything.” Skye tells her mother.

“I’m sorry Skye, I’m so sorry.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I know.” Skye says as she slowly reaches out and grabs her mother’s hand as the memories that she is trying to forget once more fight their way to the surface.

* * *

 

Downstairs Natasha Is still sitting on the coffee table running through all the ways she knows to help Melinda when the doorbell rings.

Taking a breath Natasha walks over and answers the door, “Thanks for this.” Natasha tells Tony.

“You’re welcome.” Tony tells her “What’s going on?”

“Melinda is in a bad place at the moment, Skye shouldn’t see her like this because there are very very few ways I know to help her.” Natasha explains.

“Is Coulson coming home?”

“Yeah, he’s on his way, but there has been times where neither of us can help her when she gets like this.” Natasha explains. “Do you have a doctor who won’t ask too many questions?”

“Banner’s at the tower, why?” Tony asks worried.

“Melinda was having a nightmare Skye was tried to wake her and Melinda accidently threw her into a wall. Skye cut the back of her head, she needs to get that checked out but her brain is abnormal, we know that, which could lead to questions if a doctor wanted to get scans.” Natasha explains.

“I’ll get Banner to check her.” Tony tells her.

“Thanks.” Natasha tells him. “Melinda’s beating herself up even though it was an accident, Skye’s blaming herself and she fully understands that it was an accident and doesn’t blame Melinda at all, she isn’t even upset about it, but neither of them are doing too good.”

“I’ll see if there is anything I can do, where is she?” Tony asks interested.

“Upstairs, I’ll go see if she’s ready.” Natasha says heading back upstairs.

When Natasha walks through the hallway she see Skye and Melinda in the bathroom.

“Skye, Tony’s here.” Natasha tells her niece.

“I love you Mom.” Skye tells her mother before letting go of her hand. “Always, no matter what.” She tells her

“Help her тетя Наташа please.” Skye requests a tear coming to her eye because he mom seems so broken.

“I’ll do my best.” Natasha tells her as Skye walks over to her room.

* * *

 

Five minutes later after quickly putting on a pair of jeans and a jacket and some stuff in a bag Skye walks down the stairs to where Tony is standing.

“тетя Наташа didn’t wake you did she?” Skye asks worried.

“Nah, I’m always awake.” Tony tells her. “You ready to go?”

“As ready as I can be.” Skye comments.

“Then let’s go.” Tony comments and the pair leave the house.

* * *

 

Once Skye and Tony leave Natasha goes back to the bathroom and walks over and sits down next to her friend.

“This would usually be the time where I would usually pull out the Vodka but you can’t drink.” Natasha tells her friend. “So about we just sit here and you talk when you’re ready.” Natasha tells her friend.

“You’re meant to be on a mission.” Melinda points out

“Since when has that ever stoped me from being by your side?” Natasha asks curious and Melinda doesn’t answer, “I’m right here Linda, I’m not leaving.” Natasha tells her best friend, reaching over and grabbing her right hand which she is using to dig into her own hand. 

* * *

 

“You alright?” Tony asks Skye curious as they drive in one of Tony’s most expensive cars back to the tower.

“No, not really.” Skye answers.

“Romanoff said that you hurt your head. Any headaches?” Tony asks concerned.

“A little.” Skye answers truthfully, but she is honestly more worried about her mother.

“I called Banner while I was waiting for you, he’s going to check your head.” Tony tells her.

“Thanks.”

* * *

 

Meanwhile on the plane both Clint and Coulson are worriedly wanting for some kind of explanation about what is going on back in New York

“Nat will contact us soon.” Clint tells his friend wanting to do something to help him.

“Skye didn’t answer her phone, Skye always answers her phone.” Coulson reminds him.

“Phil until we know what’s going on soon, until then you shouldn’t panic.” Clint tells his friend.

“I can’t not.” Coulson admits as his phone beeps.

“It’s from Nat.” Clint tells his friend giving him back his phone because he was obsessively checking it so much that Clint confiscated it.

“Melinda is in that place again, Skye’s spending the night at Stark Tower. I’ll stay with her.” Coulson reads and as soon as he does both Clint and Coulson become more worried.

“How long until we are there?” Coulson asks his friend worried.

“A few hours.” Clint answers. “Nat’s with her for now, she’ll look after her.” Clint tells his friend.

“I know.” Coulson answers though he wishes that it was him by Melinda’s side.

* * *

 

Once they arrive at Stark tower Tony takes Skye to the lab.

“Why exactly are you bringing me Coulson’s daughter instead of taking her to a hospital?” Banner asks curious as Tony and Skye walk in.

“I have way to much electrical activity in my brain, way more than a normal person should, very very few people know that even among S.H.I.E.L.D and we can’t risk more people finding out.” Skye explains. “Nice to meet you Dr Banner.”

“You too Ms Coulson.”

“Skye.”

“Skye.” Banner corrects, “Sit on the table and let me have a look.” He requests.

Skye nods and walks over and sits on the table.

“Do I ask what happened?” Banner asks Tony interested in a quite whisper.

“No, I’ll tell you later.” Tony responds.

Banner spends several minutes cleaning and inspecting Skye’s cut. As he is the door opens and Pepper walks in.

“Hey Pepper.”

“Hey Skye, I’ve just checked and the rooms next to the Captain are ready for you.” Pepper tells her.

“Thanks, and thanks for letting me stay.” Skye tells them gratefully.

“Not a problem, you’re always welcome here” Tony answers as his phone rings “I’ve got to get this.” Tony says stepping out to the corridor.

“What happened?” Clint’s voice asks worried.

“What do you know?” Tony responds.

“Mels is in a bad place, Skye is with you. Phil’s worried.” Clint explains.

“I got a call from Natasha, she asked me to send a car to get Skye, I went personally instead. I didn’t see Melinda but Natasha said she isn’t too good. Coulson’s not listening to this conversation is he?” Tony asks before he says anymore.

“No, it’s just me.” Clint answers “What else happened?” he asks worried.

“Melinda was having a nightmare, Skye tried to wake her and out of reflex Melinda threw Skye into a wall and Skye cut the back of her head.” Tony explains, “Banner is checking her out now. According to Natasha Melinda is blaming herself a lot for hurting Skye but Skye doesn’t blame her at all, she isn’t even upset about it.” Tony explains 

“Damn it.” Clint says worried, “Is Skye okay?” he asks worried.

“She seems like it.” Tony answers. “I’ll let you know once Banner finishes checking her out.”

“Thanks.” Clint responds before ending the call and Tony goes back into the lab.

“Dad or Uncle Clint?” Skye ask Tony curious as he walks back in.

“Clint.” Tony answers. “So what’s the verdict? Is She-Coulson’s brain going to fall out her head?” He asks interested.

“Funny Uncle Tony.” Skye tells him to Peppers and Banner’s surprised.

“I try.” Tony responds.

“She’s fine.” Banner answers, “Just a couple of butterfly clips, doesn’t even need stiches.” Banner informs him. “If you get too many headaches come and see me again.” Banner tells Skye who nods.

“Good.” Tony answers.

“She calls you Uncle Tony?” Pepper asks surprised.

“Yep.” Tony answers.

“So where am I sleeping?” Skye asks Tony hopping down from the table.

“I’ll show you.” Pepper offers.

“Thanks.” Skye responds and Pepper and Skye leave the lab.

“So what happened?” Banner asks and Tony begins to explain what happened.

* * *

 

After some difficulty Skye manages to get some sleep. When she wakes in the morning she leave and tries to look for some food and the first person she finds is Tony.

“Hey Uncle Tony, any breakfast?” Skye asks curious.

“Yeah follow me.” Tony comments. “How’s the head?”

“Fine.” Skye responds and the pair continue to walk in silence.

“So any more dreams featuring a certain spunky Captain?” Skye asks with a grin.

“Oh, I’m going to get you for that.” Tony says and he starts to chase Skye down the corridor.

Just as they enter the dining room Tony picks Skye up.

“Put me down.” Skye says hitting Tony, though it’s clear that she isn’t really bothered because she is laughing.  

“STARK.” Steve’s angry voice ask.

“Captain?” Tony asks confused as he puts Skye down, Skye having to pull down her tank top which is road up when Tony picked her up.

 “What do you think you are doing?” Steve asks angrily.

“Nothing that should made you pissed at me.” Tony comments.

“She’s Coulson’s daughter you should try behaving a little more respectfully.” Steve tells the Billionaire.

“It’s okay Steve, I didn’t mind, I wasn’t really mad. It was actually fun. I forgot that I was worried about my mom for a minute.” Skye admits and as soon as she does she feels guilty about that.

“See, no need to overreact. This isn’t the forties anymore Gramps, things are different.” Tony comments.

“I should call тетя Наташа, see how Mom is.” Skye comments.

“No one should call an assassin on an empty stomach.” Tony informs Skye “Breakfast then call her.” He suggests.

“Yeah okay, breakfast fist.” Skye says reluctantly agreeing, “Where’s Pepper?” she asks interested.

“Work.” Tony answers and the billionaire, Captain and hacker walk over and sit down at the table

* * *

 

Ever since Skye and Tony left Natasha has stayed by her friends’ side, keeping her promise. Melinda hasn’t said another word to Natasha but on occasion Natasha hears Melinda’s mutters off “I’m sorry.”

 She doesn’t move from Melinda’s side until she hears the front door open when she get up and meets Coulson in the hall.

“In here.” Natasha says pushing Coulson into his and Melinda’s room.

“What’s going on?” Coulson asks worried.

“She’s in a bad place Phil.” Natasha informs her friend, “And to make matters worse Melinda was having a nightmare and Skye tried to wake her but Melinda reacted, like Melinda does and she pushed Skye into a wall. She’s fine.” Natasha quickly adds, “But Melinda is beating herself up over that as well.” Natasha explains.

“Is she okay?” Coulson asks worried.

“She’s completely fine. She’s not mad or upset with Melinda, she knows it was an accident.” Natasha explains.

“How bad is Mel?” Coulson asks worried.

“You haven’t seen her this bad since Bahrain.” Natasha answers as the last time Melinda was in this kind of bad place Coulson wasn’t around, “I’ve got to get back to my mission, call my emergency phone if you need anything.” Natasha tells Coulson before leaving the room.

After leaving the room Natasha heads right back downstairs where she finds Clint waiting in the hall.

“What’s going on?” Clint asks his partner worried.

“Melinda hasn’t said a word apart from Sorry for hours. Phil’s going to try. I’ve got get back to my mission. Keep an eye on them and you should call Skye.” Natasha tells her partner.

“I will.” Clint assures her, “Go.” Clint tells her “Good luck.” He says giving Natasha a kiss before she rushes out the door.

* * *

 

After Natasha leaves the room Coulson walks into the bathroom and right over to Melinda’s side.

 “I’m sorry, I hurt our girl.” Melinda says when Coulson sits down next to her.

“Natasha said that she’s fine.” Coulson tells her, “I’ll talk to her to make sure that she’s alright.” Coulson tells Melinda.

“Sorry, so sorry.” Melinda repeats.

“It’s okay.” Coulson says putting his arm around Melinda pulling her in close to him. Knowing that for now at least there is nothing he can do to help her.

 

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	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

For more than an hour Coulson sits by Melinda’s side. Melinda not saying a word the entire time.

“Phil, I’m going to the Tower to see Skye.” Clint says from the door and Coulson nods.

“Mel, how about we get up?” Coulson suggests once Clint has left. “And you try and get some sleep.”

“I don’t know if I can.” Melinda admits.

“When is the last time you slept?” Coulson asks worriedly.

“Days, I’m not sure how many.” Melinda answers.

“And nightmares?” Coulson asks worried

“On and off since you’ve been gone.” Melinda answers.

“Oh Mel, you should have called.” Coulson tells her hating that she has been going through whatever she is going through alone. “Mel you are the strongest person I know, it’s okay to ask for help sometimes.” Coulson tells Melinda as going by the fact that she avoiding looking at him when he suggested that she should have called he realised what she was thinking.

“I hurt her Phil, I didn’t even realise that I did until it was too late, I didn’t mean to and I hurt her.” Melinda tells Coulson, “She said it doesn’t matter but it does. Oh god Phil, I can’t believe I did that.” Melinda tells Coulson.

“Hey, she knows that you wouldn’t hurt her on purpose. Clint’s gone to the tower, I’ll talk to her later, make sure everything’s okay.” Coulson tells her. “Now, come get some sleep. I’ll stay with you.” Coulson comments helping Melinda up but she still looks hesitant.

“Just half an hour Mel, try for half an hour.” Coulson request.

“Okay.” Melinda responds reluctantly and the pair head over to their bedroom.

* * *

 

After breakfast Skye called the house and she spoke to Clint which led to his decision to head to the tower.

Once she got off the phone with her Uncle Skye went back to the room that Tony leant her and feeling the need to do something Skye decides to practice with her powers, wanting to do something productive.

Standing in the middle of the room, making sure that there is nothing around her Skye close her eyes and tries to get herself relaxed. Once she is in her state of relaxation Skye starts on the hard part, getting In touch with the excess Electrical Activity. It takes a while but she finally feels that energy. Once she feels it she opens her eyes.

“Okay, come on Skye.” Skye says and once she focuses on the feeling of the energy and pushing it out on her, within a few minutes she sees a tiny but of blue-white light which she now knows to be electrically dancing around her the fingers of her right hand, “Okay, that’s good.” Skye comments, “Now let’s increase that.”

For several minutes she tries but she doesn’t succeed at increasing it.

“Skye, what are you doing Kid?” Clint asks confuse walking in the room.

“Practicing.” Skye responds.

“I see that.” Clint responds.

“Damn it.” Skye says annoyed when the light disappears.

“You’ve been trying to use you’re powers.” Clint states.

“Yeah.”

“So what exactly can you do now?” Clint asks interested.

“I’ve pretty much got a hang of my knowing power, it’s my electricity base power that I’m still having issues with.” Skye explains.

“It really doesn’t look like you’re having trouble.” Clint comments.

“That tiny bit of energy took me more than twenty minutes to push out.” Skye explains, “And makes me feel like I just ran for like an hour.” Skye explains.

“Oh.” Clint comments not sure what else to say.

“How’s Mom?” Skye asks worried.

“Your Dad’s with her.” Clint tells his niece.

“That’s not an answer Uncle Clint.” Skye tells her Uncle.

“I know.” Clint tells her, “The truth is I don’t know how she is.” Clint admits.

“тетя Наташа said that Mom sometimes get in a bad place, what exactly does that mean?” Skye asks curious.

“It means that there are times where Mels doesn’t sleep and has constant nightmares where the guilt over everything she has done gets too much for her, she basically shuts down.” Clint explains, “Sometimes it lasts hours or sometimes it lasts days. There is almost nothing you can do to help, but there is a few things. During these times the Mels we know, the Mother you know, disappears for a while.” Clint explains.

“Can Dad help her?” Skye asks worried.

“He has before.” Clint answers, “But there has been times where he couldn’t.”

“Then what happen?” Skye asks interested. “How did she come back? So to speak.” she asks interested.

“It varies.” Clint answers, “Some time she snaps herself out of it, once she and Nat drunk to they passed out or Phil does something to snap her out of it, or other things” Clint explains, “Director Fury and Hill don’t even know that this has ever happened. When she gets like this Nat, Phil and I make sure that one of us is always with her and we do what we can.” Clint explains

“I knew she hadn’t been sleeping, I should have called Dad.” Skye comment feeling guilty, thinking that maybe if she called her father earlier she could have prevented all of this.

“This isn’t your fault Kid. Trust me on that.” Clint tells his niece.

“I wish there was something I could do to help her.” Skye tells her Uncle hating that she feels so unless.

“I’ll call your Dad in few hours and see how things are going, you might be able to do something then, but right now you can’t.” Clint tells her.

“I hate this.” Skye says frustrated.

“So do I.”  Clint admits then notices that Skye is fiddling with her fingers, clearly trying not to say something but at the same time looking like she really wants to.

“Skye, what is it?” Clint asks interested.

“Nothing.” Skye responds too quickly for Clint’s liking.

“Talk to me Kid.” Clint requests, “Please.” He adds.

“You were in foster homes right?” Skye asks her Uncle as he has mentioned it a couple of time

“Yeah, a couple.” Clint answers surprised that she would bring it up now. “I ran away before I could go to too many.” He tells her.

“I did that a few times, always went back though.” Skye admits, “I was in six foster homes all together, never stayed more than two months a single one.” She tells her Uncle not looking at him as she speaks, “The place I stayed the longest was when I was thirteen, the Carmichaels.” Skye explains and as soon as she says the name Clint guesses that it wasn’t a good experience, “They had two grown kids of their own, took in foster kids because they could, because they had the space, because they missed being parents, on paper they were the perfect foster parents.” She explains.

“I’m guessing in reality they weren’t.” Clint comments.

“No, not so much.” Skye admits and walks over and sits on the floor in front of the bed.

“What happened?” Clint asks worried walking over and sitting next to his niece guessing that she must have a reason why she is bringing it up now when she hardly ever brings up her past.

“What were the foster homes you in like?” Skye asks interested.

“The first one was good.” Clint admits, “They were good people, they looked after us. Were foster parents for all the right reasons.” Clint admits remembering back feeling like maybe if he shares a bit about his past then maybe Skye will explains some more, “Right people wrong time, I just lost my parents and I felt like they were trying to replace them, they sent us back after a few weeks.” Clint explains.

From what her Uncle has told her Skye knows that the ‘we’ refers to Clint and his brother but she also knows that it is an off limits topic. “What about the second?”

“The complete opposite.” Clint answers, “It was because of them we ran.” He explains simply. “What happened with the Carmichaels?” he asks.

“There was three other girls with me at the time, Jessica, Lisa and Emma.” Skye tells him, “As soon as the social worker dropped me of Jessica, the oldest, took me aside and told me a few things, she said to stay out of Mrs Carmichael way and to use the money they gave us once a week to buy our own food and hide it. “ Skye explains and Clint guesses that that is the reason that Skye still hides food in her bunk.

“Mr Carmichael was a good guy.” Skye admits, “He cared about us but he was also really, really busy and was hardly ever around.” Skye explains. “I think in the entire two months that I was there he was only home for a total of maybe a week all together.” She answers thinking back.

“What happened?” Clint gently pushes once Skye hasn’t said anything for a few minutes.

“Mrs Carmichael had some problem, a lot, but because on paper she was the perfect foster Mom and no one spoke up against her no one realises.” Skye explains wondering how things would have been different if someone had, “She often forgot that she had children around which is why Jessica told me to buy food. One night once we we’re all pretty sure that she was asleep Emma went downstairs and started to make food for us all, she was only fifteen, a few weeks younger than Jessica.” Skye explains, “Mrs Carmichael thought she was an intruder so she picked up a knife and stabbed her.” Skye explains.

Not sure what he can say to that and pretty sure that Skye isn’t finished talking yet Clint doesn’t say anything he just reaches out and puts his arm around his niece.

“When we heard the screams Jessica told Lisa and I to get into the closet and stay there. She called the police and went down there. She wanted to try and help Emma, they were really close, this wasn’t the first home they had been in together. We didn’t hear anything for a few minutes so we went down there, we couldn’t stay hidden any longer.” Skye explains wishing that they did. “In the kitchen we found both Jessica and Emma dead, Mrs Carmichael had cut Jessica’s throat before she could scream.” Skye explains thinking about the sight that still haunts her nightmares to this day, “Mrs Carmichael was sitting in the corner, saying over and over, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, she still had the knife in her hand.” Skye says with a shiver and Clint tightens her arm around her.

“You don’t have to continue.” Clint tells her and he starts to have some idea why she is telling him this.

“Yeah I do.” Skye admits as she has never told someone what happened, “When she realised that we were standing there I thought we were going to be next, but Mrs Carmichael slit her wrist instead, saying I’m sorry as she bleed out.” Skye explains, “The police arrived minutes later but it was too late, for all of them.” Skye explains, “They talked to Lisa and I but every time I tried to tell them what happened I had a panic attack, I couldn’t do it.” She explains, “Lisa talked to the police and Mr Carmichael and his kids, she told the story so many times, but I never could.” Skye explains, “We were roomed together after that, guess they wanted to put the two most messed up girls together.” She tells Clint with a un emotional laugh, “That was until she overdosed a few months later. She left a note, for me.” Skye informs him, “I get it now, why you stayed quite, and I wish I did. I’m sorry.” Skye recites from memory, “When I walked into that bathroom and I saw Mom, all I could think of was Mrs Carmichael, they both had the same look in their eye, the look of a guilt that you can’t live with.” Skye explains, “I need to help her Uncle Clint, because I know what comes after that look and I can’t let Mom do that to herself. There has to be something I can do to help her.” Skye asks her voice displaying the emotion that she has tried to keep hidden.

“For Twenty years I’ve know your mother, and I’ve seen her at her lowest, when she was in the worse place she could be.” Clint admits to his Niece, “And there has only been one time when I’ve been worried that he would seriously hurt herself and that’s when Nat and I told her your Dad was dead.” Clint explains, “I don’t know what guilt she is living with, no one does, but I do know one thing. If there is one person on this planet who can help her then its Phil Coulson.” Clint explains, “I know that doesn’t help the useless feeling you’ve got or the feeling of helpless in the pit of your stomach, but it’s all I can tell you can tell you Kid, the best person is helping her.” Clint tells his niece, “For what it’s worth I’m sorry about what happened.” Clint tells his niece pretty sure that an apology won’t mean anything.

“I really hate this.” Skye repeats.

“I know.” Clint comments, “Come on.” He says standing up and pulling her up.

“Where are we going?” Skye asks confused as she follows him out of the room.

“That’s a surprise.” Clint comments then noticing a figure at the end of the hallway “STARK.” He yells.

“What Barton?” Tony asks.

“In that fancy car collection of yours do you have any motorbikes?” Clint asks interested.

“Yeah, why?”

“Can I borrow one?” Clint asks politely

“You’re going to take one whether I say yes or not aren’t you?” Tony asks interested having a feeling that he is.

“Yeah.” Clint answers without hesitation.

“Take whichever you want, the keys are downstairs.” Tony tells him.

“Thanks, come on Kid.” Clint tells Skye and he starts running down the corridor.

“Any idea what you’re insane Uncle is up to She-Coulson?” Tony asks curious as Skye follows.

“Nope.” Sky answers as she starts to run.

“And yet she still follows him.” Tony comments with a small smile.

* * *

 

Back at the house both Coulson and Melinda are laying in the bed, Melinda is asleep having actually managed to fall asleep and Coulson is awake.

Coulson is holding Melinda close to him as she sleeps, hoping that when she wakes she will be a bit more like herself so that maybe he can get through to her.

* * *

 

“What’s going on Uncle Clint?” Skye asks confused. “I don’t think now is a good time for a motorbike ride.” She tells her Uncle.

“There is nothing that can help get rid of that feeling of helplessness in pit of your stomach, but in my experience speeding around the city on a motorbike helps you forget for a bit, mainly because you’re trying not to get arrested, you in?” Clint asks his niece curious picking up a helmet and handing It to his niece.

“I don’t know.” Skye says hesitantly, “Maybe we should go back to the house, see how Mom’s doing.” Skye says to her uncle. 

“If that’s what you really want then we can.” Clint tells his niece, “But there’s still nothing we can do, if we wait a couple of hours then maybe we can do something to help.” Clint tells Skye.

“Okay, a couple of hours.” Skye says taking the helmet of Clint, “But if we get arrested you’re dealing with Dad.” She tells him.

“Deal.” Clint says grabbing his own helmet.

* * *

 

Over an hour after she fell asleep Coulson feels Melinda starting to sir.

“HI.” Coulson says to Melinda when she turns around to face him.

“Hi.” Melinda responds, “What..?” She begins to ask then she remembers, “Oh god, Skye?” She asks worried.

“At Stark Tower with Clint, Stark, Steve, Banner and Pepper.” Coulson tells her glad that the sleep has seemed to do her some good.

“Is she okay?” Melinda asks worried.

“From what I know, yeah.” Coulson answers.

“You haven’t talked to her?” Melinda asks surprised.

“Not yet.” Coulson responds, “But I’m going to.” He tells her. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” He asks.

“I haven’t been sleeping.” Melinda tells him.

“You said that, why?” Coulson asks.

“The usual.” Melinda tells him, “I thought I could handle it, guess not.” She realises.

“You should have called, I would been here in hours if I knew.” Coulson tells Melinda.

“I shouldn’t have had to.” Melinda comments, “I shouldn’t need you by my side to sleep without nightmares. I should have been strong enough to handle this alone.” Melinda admits.

“Mel, even the strongest people need help sometimes, you shouldn’t be ashamed of that.” Coulson tells her.

“How long can you stay?” Melinda asks curious avoiding responding to his previous point.

“Until we get a mission.” Coulson responds and Melinda nods.

“Talk to me Mel, tell me what you’ve been dreaming about. I want to help, I don’t like seeing you hurting this much.” Coulson tells Melinda, as when he saw her so broken he felt his own heart break.

For several minutes Melinda is quite and Coulson is positive that she isn’t going to tell him anything but she surprises both of them by telling him about the nightmares that have haunted her dreams for over a week.

(Line break)

 A couple of hours after leaving Stark Tower Skye and Clint arrive back the house, both of them surprised that they didn’t get arrested because of several of the things Clint did while driving.

“Are you planning on giving this bike back to Stark at some point?” Skye asks her Uncle curious as they get off the bike.

“Yeah, I probably should.” Clint comments.

“You going to warn him about all the tickets that he is probably going to get?” Skye asks interested.

“Nah that will be my gift to him.” Clint comments.

“I doubt he will see it that way.” Skye comments as the pair head inside.

“Yeah, well. He’ll deal with it.” Clint comments and Skye rolls her eyes, “I’m going to go check upstairs.” Skye tells her Uncle.

When Skye gets upstairs she sees the door to her parents’ room is open and when she looks in she sees them both asleep next to each other. Being careful not to wake them Skye carefully closes the door and heads back downstairs.

“They are asleep.” Skye tells Clint.

“That’s good.” Clint comments.

“Yeah, I think so too.” Skye tells Clint.

“So what do you want to do while they are eating Kid?” Clint asks curious.

“Eat.” Skye comments heading to the kitchen.

“You could be more specific for all I know you want to eat people.” Clint comments with a grin.

“Cannibal joke really?” Skye ask more amused at his lame attempt for a joke than the joke itself.

“You were asking for it.” Clint comments.

“That was just lame.” Skye tells him.

“Well as you favourite Uncle you just have to put up with me.” Clint tells Skye with a grin.

“Who says you’re my favourite Uncle?” Skye teasingly asks, “Uncle Tony does have some pretty cool toys after all.” She comments.

”Take that back.” Clint tells Skye.

“What are you going to do if I don’t?” Skye asks realising that she is asking for trouble.

“This.” Clint says and before Skye can react Clint is tickling her.

“Okay, you win.” Skye says through hysterical laughter a couple of minutes later.

“Say it.” Clint tells her.

“You’re my favourite Uncle.” Skye says and Clint stops tickling her.

“You actually asked for that.” Clint reminds his niece.

“I know.” Skye responds. “I regret it.” She comments. “So food.” Skye says going to the fridge and having a look.

“I vote for Pizza.” Clint comments looking over Skye’s shoulder and seeing that everything in the fridge needs to be cooked.

“I second that vote.” Skye says as she closes the fridge. “You order, I’m going to get changed.” Skye says heading upstairs.

* * *

 

Two hours later Skye and Clint are sitting on the living room floor with five different pizza boxes around them, all of them having many pieces missing but none of them empty.

“You know we should go put the left overs in the fridge for later.” Clint comments.

“That requires getting up.” Skye reminds him.

“Right, and getting up is evil?” Clint asks confused.

“That’s what we decided three pieces of pizza ago.” Skye reminds her Uncle.

“Right, we did.” Clint comments and before either of them can say anymore Clint’s phone rings, “What Ward?” Clint asks after checking the caller ID.

“Hey, be nice.” Skye says hitting her Uncle.

“Give us an hour.” Clint responds before hanging up the phone.

“What is it?” Skye asks worried.

“We’ve got a mission.” Clint responds.

“Which means you and Dad have to go.” Skye realise.

“Yeah, we do.” Clint answers, “I better go tell him.” Clint says getting up and heading upstairs.

A few minutes later Clint returns downstairs and walks over to Skye who has managed to stand up, “Your Dad will be down in a minute.” Clint tells his niece, “You’re Moms doing better, you should tell her what you told me.” Clint suggests.

“No, I’m never telling anyone that.” Skye tells her Uncle.

“You should, it could help you to actually talk about it.” Clint says as he gives Skye a hug, not pushing her anymore. “Look after yourself kid.”

“See you Uncle Clint.” Skye says just as Coulson walks down stairs.

“I’ll wait in the car.” Clint tells Coulson.

“We haven’t even said hello yet.” Skye tells her father

“I know.” Coulson says and the father and daughter hug. “Are you okay?” Coulson asks worried as they do.

“I’m good.” Skye assures her father, “I know Mom didn’t mean to hurt me. I know she never would. I’m okay I just wish she would stop blaming herself.” Skye tells her father.

“She won’t.” Coulson tells his daughter, “But she’s a lot better than she was before, what she needed was sleep and to talk.” Coulson tells his daughter, “Call me if you notice her not getting much sleep again.” Coulson tells his daughter, “I’m sorry that you had to see that.” He tells her.

“It’s not your fault, and it’s not hers either, we all have things that are hard to live with sometimes.” Skye comments.

“Skye?” Coulson ask worried.

“I’m okay, promise.” Skye tells her father, “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about me and Ward.” Skye comments changing the subject.

“It’s okay, I get it.” Coulson assures his daughter. “I’ll try and get back here again in a few days but don’t hesitate to call.” Coulson requests.

“I won’t.” Skye assure her Dad.

“I’ve got to go.” Coulson comments as they hear the beep of Lola’s horn, “I love you Baby Girl.”

“Love you too Dad.” Skye responds and after giving Skye a kiss on her head he leaves.

Once her father walks out of the front door Skye heads upstairs and to her parents’ room. “Can I come in?” Skye asks curious seeing her Mom sitting up in bed.

“Yeah.” Melinda respond and Skye walks over to her father’s side of the bed and sits down next to her.

“I’m so sorry Skye for what I did.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“it’s okay Mom, I promise you I’m okay.” Skye assure her mother for what feels like the hundredth time for Skye, “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.” She tells her. “How are you?” Skye asks concerned.

“Better.” Melinda answers, “Your Dad and I talked, that helped and so did the sleep I got.” Melinda comments.

“I’m glad.” Skye tells her Mother, “I was worried.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“You don’t need to apologise to me for that.” Skye tells her. “I love you Mom and next time this happens, let me help if I can.” Skye tells her mother.

“I’ll try.” Melinda responds and the pair drift into silence.

* * *

 

For a while Skye and Melinda remain sitting next to each other in silence until Skye heads back downstairs to clean up the Pizza and goes to bed herself. She has been asleep for several hours when she wakes up screaming, “JESSICA, EMMA NO.”

“Skye.” Melinda says racing into Skye room to see her sitting up in bed looking terrified. “Can I come closer?” Melinda asks standing at the end of Skye’s bed not wanting a repeat of when Skye tried to wake her the night before.

Skye nods and Melinda walks over and sits down on the side of her daughters bed, as soon as she does Skye hugs her and starts to cry.

“I’ve got you.” Melinda promises her daughter.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Melinda asks twenty minutes later when Skye stops crying.

“No, not really.” Skye answers.

“Okay then you don’t have to.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“But I think I have to.” Skye says to her mother’s surprised as she remembers Clint’s words from earlier. “But can you not say anything until I’m done?” Skye request, “I don’t think I’ll get through it otherwise.”

“Of course.” Melinda responds knowing how hard it is for Skye to admit things.

“Thank you.” Skye respond and she prepares herself to tell a story for the second time in a day that she has never told before, “When I was thirteen I was at the foster home I spent the most time at, The Carmichael’s, I was there with three other girls, Jessica, Emma and Lisa. Mr Carmichael was great but never home, Mrs Carmichael wasn’t. She had some problems and often forgot that she had taken in children. One night Emma went down to cook dinner and Mrs Carmichael stabbed her because she thought she was an intruder. Jessica told me and Lisa to hide and she went downstairs and Mrs Carmichael slit her throat.” Skye explains and she pauses to collect herself before she continues, Melinda remaining quiet even though she would like to comment, “Lisa and I stayed hidden for a little while then we went downstairs, we wanted to see if there was anything we could do. We found Jessica and Emma both dead and Mrs Carmichael sitting in the corner of the kitchen muttering I’m sorry, over and over, when she saw Lisa and I and she realised what she really done she cut her wrists.” Skye explains, “When the police came they asked us what happened and I had my first panic attack when I tried to tell them, before today I could never tell anyone what happened before today, I would have a panic attack every time I tried.” Skye explains to her mother.

“I reminded you of Mrs Carmichael today didn’t I?” Melinda asks her daughter.

“Yeah.” Skye admits.

“I sorry for bringing up bad memories for you.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“You didn’t know.” Skye tells her mother. “But I was so scared about what you were going to do to yourself.” Skye tells her mother, “Everywhere I go people die, and today Uncle Clint and тетя Наташа just kept telling me that there was nothing I could do to help you, I felt useless.” Skye tells her mother.

“What happened to Jessica, Emma and Lisa wasn’t your fault.” Melinda tells her daughter, “You know that don’t you?”

“Yeah I know.” Skye admits but she can’t help but feel like it is sometimes.

“What happened today wasn’t your fault either.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I knew you weren’t sleeping, if I called Dad sooner then maybe he could have helped you.” Skye tells her mother.

“Phil wouldn’t have been able to help until after what you saw happened.” Melinda tells her daughter with certainty.

“How do you know?” Skye asks curious.

“Because I know myself.” Melinda tells her daughter, “Ever since I died I’ve been thinking about everything I have done, I needed it to all get too much so that I could get the guilt under control again, get it back to what I live with every day.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Bahrain.” Skye realises. “It’s been what fifteen? Sixteen years since Bahrain?” Skye asks her mother.

“Yeah.” Melinda answers

“Whatever happened must have been bad, I get that, I do, but you shouldn’t keep feeling guilty for that, I’m sure you made up for what you did a long time ago.” Skye tells her mother.

“You don’t know what I did.” Melinda responds.

“Then tell me.” Skye tells her mother, “I mean if you can, I would totally understand if you don’t, but I want to understand I want to be able to help you.” Skye explains to her mother.

“I’ve never told anyone what happened.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Before today I never told anyone what happened with the Carmichaels, it wasn’t easy and I don’t know if it will help in the long run but now you and Uncle Clint understand me a bit more, that’s all I want Mom, to understand you.” Skye tells her mother.

For more than fifteen minutes Melinda is quite trying to decide what to do, “Okay, I’ll tell you.” Melinda tells her daughter, “No interruptions.” Melinda requests and Skye nods. After pausing a minute to collect herself Melinda tells her daughter the story of what made her who she is today, the story she has never told another person.

* * *

 

Melinda spends half an hour telling her daughter the story of what happen in both Bahrain and Istanbul. Once she is finished Skye asks a couple of questions but because she realises that it is still really hard for her mother to talk about she stops quickly. After assuring Melinda that she would be okay and that she was going to go back to sleep Melinda left her daughters room.

For over an hour Skye attempts to get to sleep but every time she closes her eyes she remembers another part of her past so instead she gets up and walks over to her parents’ room.

“Skye what is it?” Melinda asks worried when she realises that her daughter is standing in the door way.

“I know I’m way too old for this but would you mind if I slept in here with you tonight?” Skye asks her mother hesitantly.

“Not at all, come on.” Melinda tells her daughter and Skye walks across the room and climbs into bed next to her mother.

“Night Mom.” Skye responds.

“Goodnight May.” Melinda responds before she realises what she said.

“You called me May.” Skye responds, the emotion in her voice being hard to read.

“You don’t mind do you?” Melinda asks her daughter worried.

“Why would I? It’s my name.” Skye reminds her mother, it being a surprise to be called by her birth name for the first time but at the same time it also feeling right in a way.

“Yeah, it is.” Melinda responds with a small smile, “Try and get some sleep.”

“I don’t mind you know.” Skye says several minutes later, “If you want to call me May.” Skye tells her mother not sure if she wants everyone to call her that but knowing she wouldn’t mind if her parents choose to.

“We can talk in the morning, get some sleep.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Love you Mom.”

“Love you too.” Melinda responds and both mother and daughter close their eyes, both hoping that the nightmares stay away

 

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	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

* * *

 

Ever since there night talk Melinda and Skye have been closer because they understand each other a bit more. It has been eight days since then and Melinda has been off of bed rest for three days. Like every morning since they Melinda and Skye have gone for a run together.

As soon as they get back from their run Skye almost collapses onto the couch. “You died, took three bullets and are just off bed rest, how am I more tired than you?” Skye asks her mother.

“I’ve been getting up early in the morning to exercise for years.” Melinda says walking back into the room with two bottles of Gatorade, “My body is used to that.” She says handing her daughter one of the bottles.

“But still, you’ve been resting for weeks. That is so not fair.” Skye comments.

“Normally I would be able to do what we just ran in about half the amount of time.” Melinda admits.

“Now that’s really unfair.” Skye comments. “So what’s the plan for today? You’re not going to spend hours running up and down the stairs again are you? Because that got annoying pretty quickly.” Skye tells her mother.

“I’m not sure about today but I was thinking that tomorrow we could skip the run and do whatever it is that you want for the day.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Seriously?” Skye asks surprised.

“Yeah. I think it would be fun.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Huh, I’m going to need some time to think about this.” Skye comments.

“Well let me know in the morning.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I will.” Skye says standing up, “I call upstairs bathroom.” Skye says walking over to the stairs.

* * *

 

Half an hour later Skye goes back downstairs and she sees no sign of her mother, thinking that maybe she could still be in the bathroom she heads down to the basement, where instead of hearing the sound of the shower Skye sees her mother standing among the boxes.

“You’re not going to start bench pressing these are you?” Skye asks her mother curious.

“No, I’m looking for something.” Melinda tells her daughter.  

“How? There seems to be no order down here.” Skye comments as she walks among the boxes.

“There’s not, that’s the problem.” Melinda comments.

“Mom what’s this?” Skye asks interested when she reads the name on top of one of the boxes

“I forgot about that.” Melinda comments as she sees what Skye is referring to, “Your Dad started that before you were born, he kept adding things to it, even after you were taken. I don’t know what’s in it.” Melinda tells her.

“Can I open it?” Skye asks her mother curious.

“You should wait until your Dad is home, he will want to be there when you open it.” Melinda tells Skye.

“Yeah okay.” Skye says tearing her eyes away from the top of the box that says ‘For May, on her twenty first birthday’ and then underneath, clearly written in another marker it says ‘Or when we find her.’ “So what are you looking for?” she asks.

“My old weight set, I’m pretty sure that they are down here somewhere.” Melinda comments.

”It seems like everything is down here.” Skye comments, “Have you thought about organizing things?” Skye asks curious.

“All the time.” Melinda comments.

“Any idea what kind of box they are in?” Skye asks interested.

“There not in a box.” Melinda answers, “They should be sitting in a case around her somewhere.” Melinda answers.

“Colour?” Skye asks so she knows what she is looking for.

“Black.” Melinda answers.

“Is that it over there by the window?” Skye asks curious several minutes later.

“Yes it is, thanks.” Melinda answers.

“Have you heard from Dad lately?” Skye asks curious.

“No, not lately why?” Melinda ask interested.

“Because I haven’t heard from him Uncle Clint or Ward since before you got off bed rest, I’m getting worried.” Skye explains.

“You’re right.” Melinda realises, “I left Phil a message when I got of bed rest but I haven’t heard from him since.” She realises. “Can you help me with this?” Melinda asks.

“Sure.” Skye says walking over and helping her mother with the case, “Something’s wrong, he should have called you back.” Sky comments.

“He could be busy, or on a mission…” Melinda beings to say but Skye cuts her off.

“Or something could have happened.” Skye tells her mother.

“I’ll make some calls.” Melinda tells her daughter, “There is no reason to panic before you know what is going on.” Melinda says as they climb up the stairs with the case.

“But what if something has happened?” Skye asks worried.

“If something serious has happened then I’m sure that Director Fury would have let us know.” Melinda tells her daughter. “Put it over there.”  She says referring to the corner in the living room.

“But what if he doesn’t know?” Skye asks clearly worried, “What if something has happened and the Director doesn’t know yet?” Skye asks worried as they put the case down.

“Hey, I know that it is hard but until we actually have a reason, we can’t worry.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“It’s hard not to.” Skye tells her mother.

“I know May.” Melinda tells her daughter as ever since Skye told her that it would be okay to call her May she has on occasion. “Come on.” Melinda tells her daughter and they head into the office.

“What are you looking for?” Skye asks as Melinda starts to look through the desk closes to the window

“A phone that can be used to contact secure numbers.” Melinda explains, “I’ll try the plane fist.”

“Anything?” Skye ask a minute later when Melinda hangs up the phone.

“No, there’s another number I can try.” Melinda tells her daughter, “Phil’s emergency burner cell, no one except for me has the number.” Melinda reveals.

“Do it.” Skye tells her mother and that’s exactly what Melinda does. A minute later she hangs up the phone without speaking to someone.

“Now we worry right?” Skye asks her mother.

“We begin to.” Melinda comments putting another number into the phone, “Director, it’s Melinda.” She says when the other person answers.

“Do you have his direct number?” Skye asks surprised and Melinda nods, “That’s soo cool.”

“Melinda, is there a problem?” Fury asks curious.

“I was wounding what is going on with the team, Skye and I have been trying to contact them but have been unable to. I was wondering if they were alright.” Melinda explains to the director.

“They are fine. They are currently on a mission with no coms allowed, that is why you have been unable to contact them.” Fury answer.

“Thank you Director.” Melinda says before hanging up.

“What did he say?” Skye asks interested.

“He said that they are fine, but they are on a mission with no coms allowed.” Melinda explains.

“Oh, that’s great.” Skye comments relieved, “They’re fine then.” She comments then notices her Mother’s face, “Mom, what is it?” she asks worried.

“The number I called to reach your father we agreed that we would always answer it because we would only call in an emergency. On missions we each always carry that respective phone with us and we always answer it.” Melinda explains not being able to shake the feeling that something is wrong.

“You think something’s wrong.” Skye realises.

“I can’t help it.” Melinda answers.

“Well, let’s find out.” Skye comments sitting down on the floor and closing her eyes.

Melinda who realises what her daughter is trying to do stays quite because she knows how important concentration is for what Skye wants to do.

“DAM IT.” Skye says angrily ten minutes later.

“What is it?” Melinda asks worried.

“I can’t do it.” Skye admits, “I need to focus on one specific thought but with what we need to know there are too many things connected to it, it’s too complicated.” Skye explains, “I was practicing with my electrical power early this morning when I couldn’t sleep, I exhausted myself so that I could.” Skye admits, “I have the focus, the energy, to get the answer to one specific thought, but that’s it. I can’t find out any more than that.” Skye tells her mother.

“It’s okay.” Melinda tell her daughter, “But once we figure this out we will be having a chat about you practicing with you electrical power without telling me.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I know.” Skye responds as Melinda walks over and sits down in front of her daughter. “What do I focus on? What will help us the most?” She asks.

“Find out if Phil is safe.” Melinda tell her daughter, “Then if he’s not I’ve got an idea for ways for us to find them, and help. But we need to know if they are safe or not.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Okay.” Skye says and she once more closes her eyes. “He’s in trouble, I don’t know specifics all I know is he’s in trouble.” Skye tells her mother five minutes later.

“Okay.” Melinda says trying to remain calm, “Good Job Honey.” She tells her daughter, “Are you alright?” She asks worried.

“Yeah I’m fine. I won’t be able to use my powers for about a day but I’m good.” Skye assures her mother, “We need to find Dad.”

 “I know.” Melinda tells her daughter, “Go upstairs and pack a bag, put in it tactical clothes and the night night gun your Dad left you and anything else you think will be useful.” Melinda tells her daughter and Skye nods and heads upstairs.

Melinda on the other hand walks over to the phone and dies another number, “Tony, its Melinda. I need a favour.” Melinda says.

“Of course Melinda, what can I do?” Tony asks as in the last week he has seen a lot of the Coulson women which has resulted in them developing a friendship.

“Skye and I will be at the tower in about half an hour, I’ll explain then.” Melinda responds as she walks over to where the safe is hidden and makes it unhidden.

“See you soon.” Tony responds a hint of concern clear.

Once she has opened the safe Melinda grabs a whole lot of different things out including cash and documents. Once she has gotten out what she needs she closes the safe and hides it once more, and heads upstairs to get her own stuff.

Ten minutes later Melinda has changed into not her normal S.H.I.E.L.D tactical clothes but what looks like something almost the same without the S.H.I.E.L.D logo. She is waiting outside Skye’s room for her daughter.

When Skye exits a minute later Melinda can’t help but smile because Skye is wearing the same outfit she wore when Coulson was taken resulting in her looking a lot like her.

“There is no chance of me convincing you to stay at Stark Tower while I go and find Phil and the team is there?” Melinda asks her daughter.

“None.” Skye responds as they walk down stairs. “If either of us should be trying to convince the other not to go then it should be me, you are still healing after all.” Skye reminds her mother.

“I’m fine.” Melinda says as they walk out the front door, Skye locking the door as they do. “Skye If you’re going to come with me I need you to listen to what I tell you to do.” Melinda tell her daughter, “We don’t know what we are going into but we are going into it without S.H.I.E.L.D approval which means things could get very dangerous, very quickly. If that happens I need to know you will listen and do what I say even if you don’t like what I am telling you.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I’ll listen as long as what you tell me doesn’t involve you sacrificing yourself for me.” Skye tells her mother as they put their bags in the back seats and get in the front.

“I can’t promise that.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Then neither can I.” Skye informs her mother.

* * *

 

Twenty five minutes later Melinda and Skye arrive at Stark Tower and they have no trouble getting in. As soon as they walk into the lobby they see Tony waiting for them.

“What’s going on?” Tony asks, if he wasn’t worried already the outfits they are wearing would give him cause to.

“We haven’t heard from Phil, Clint or the rest of the team in days. Fury said that they are on a mission without coms but Phil didn’t answer his phone that he promised he would always answer no matter what and Skye found out that they are in trouble.” Melinda explains as the tree of them get into the elevator.

“What do you need?” Tony asks curious.

“We need to find the plane.” Melinda tells Tony.

“Mind reading person who can literally know anything she puts her mind to standing next to you, and you need my help?” Tony asks surprised.

“I couldn’t sleep this morning so I practiced with my powers until I was exhausted, I can’t use either of my powers for about twenty four hours.” Skye explains.

“Okay, idea on how to find the plane?” Tony asks as they arrive in his private rooms.

“I put a tracker in the plane before I left.” Melinda reveals, “We need access to technology that only you or S.H.I.E.L.D have to find it. Once you have access to the satellites I can enter the tracker code and we can find where the plane is.” Melinda explains “From there we can hopefully find them.” Melinda reveals.

“So I’m guessing that for you to be here instead of at a S.H.I.E.L.D base that S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t know what you are planning?” Tony asks as they walk to over to the computer.

“No.” Melinda answers, “Fury told us that everything was okay.” Melinda responds.

“Skye, guessing you can get into a satellite quicker than me.” Tony tells Skye.

“Of course.” Skye tells him.

“Then do your thing.” Tony tells her and Skye sits down in front of the computer.

“Okay I’m in.” Skye says several minutes later, “We have several satellites and only a few minutes before they realise what we are doing.” Skye explains, “What do I do now?” Skye asks her mother.

“Move.” Melinda instructs and she takes her daughters place in front of the computer to do what she has to do.

“Got it.” Melinda says about two minutes later.

“Print of the coordinates and cut all connections to the satellites.” Tony instructs knowing they have about a minute before someone realise what they are doing.

“How do I do that?” Melinda asks.

“Move.” Tony instructs and he takes Melinda’s place in front of the computer.

“Okay, we’re disconnected.” Tony comments seconds later, “Shouldn’t have been in long enough for anyone to realise.” He informs the other two.

“Good.” Skye comments, “So where’s the plane?” she asks her mother who has walked over to the printer.

“Egypt.” Melinda comments looking at the coordinates.

“Sandbox?” Skye asks curious.

“Wrong location.” Melinda responds. “You don’t happen to have a plane I could borrow do you?” Melinda asks Tony.

“We.” Skye corrects, “I told you, I’m coming.” She tells her mother.

“I do actually.” Tony answers “I brought it for just this kind of thing, no one knows I brought it. It’s basically the same as my other private jets but it can’t be traced back to me, I don’t have a pilot on call but I’m guessing you can fly it.” He comments.

“I can fly anything.” Melinda answers, “Thanks Tony.”

“It’s not a problem, because I’m coming with you.” Tony informs her.

“What!” Skye and Melinda say surprised.

“You still healing,” Tony says pointing to Melinda, “And you’re still week.” He adds pointing to Skye, “I’m not letting you go alone, you can accept that or you can’t use my jet.” He informs them.

“Grab your crap.” Melinda tells her friend actually thankful for the help, though she wouldn’t admit it, “You do realise Pepper is going to kill you when she gets home and you’re not here.” Melinda comments.

“She’s used to it.” Tony comments as she starts to collect a few things.

“Captain and Banner here?” Skye asks curious.

“Nah, they both left for places unknown days ago.” Tony explains, “Let’s go.” He tells them.

“I’ve got to make a call first.” Melinda comments, “I’ll meet you down there.” She comments and Skye and Tony head down to the garage while Melinda makes her phone call.

* * *

 

When they arrive at the airport half an hour later Tony and Skye are surprised to see Natasha, back to being a red head but with her hair straightened, waiting for them.

“I should have known.” Tony comments when he sees Natasha.

“Clint’s her partner, it was only fair I called her.”  Melinda comments.

“Well when we save your partners ass tell him that I am still getting fines form when he borrowed my bike.” Tony comments walking past Natasha and into the plane.

“It’s great to see you тетя Наташа, but aren’t you meant to be on a mission?” Skye asks curious.

“It ended.” Natasha responds simply and everyone board’s the plane.

“You’re cover was blown wasn’t it?” Melinda asks her friend seeing a small bulge underneath the bottom of her shirt that looks like a bandage.

“Yeah, Fury thinks I’m on medical leave for three days so he won’t be looking for me.” Natasha tells her friend.

“You alright?” Melinda asks concerned.

“Yeah I’m good.”  Natasha responds, “How about you? You’re just off bed rest.”

“I can handle myself.” Melinda responds, “But I’m glad you’re here.”

“There isn’t anywhere I would rather be.” Natasha assures her friend. “So what do we know?” Natasha asks and as the two friends walk to the cockpit.

* * *

 

An hour later Melinda has filed in Natasha on what she knows and Natasha has broken protocol to tell Melinda that her mission found out nothing, that there is still no word on whether Quinn Is alive or dead. They are sitting in silence when the door opens and Skye walks in.

“How long until we get there?” Skye asks curious.

“About ten hours.” Melinda answers.

“Seriously?” Skye asks surprised.

 “This isn’t the Bus, this plane can’t go as fast.” Melinda explains.

“What’s Stark doing?” Natasha asks curious.

“Sleeping.” Skye responds.

 “Is there a way for Dad to contact us if he can?” Skye asks interested.

“I have my emergency phone and he has the number, he’ll know to call that if he can’t get me any other way.” Melinda explains.

“And Clint and I have the same system, so one of them should be able to contact us if they can.” Natasha adds.

“Good.” Skye responds.

“You should get some sleep ребенок, we’re going to be in the air for a while.” Natasha comments.

“You should take your own advice.” Skye tells her aunt “You’re hurt and Mom’s still healing, tell me honestly, can you do this?” Skye asks worried.

“We won’t know to we try.” Melinda tells her daughter saying what is has been her and Natasha’s motto a lot over the years.

“I think I might go get some sleep.” Skye comments several minutes later still worried about her mother’s confession. “I think my batteries could do with some re charging.” Skye comments, “See you In Egypt.” Skye comments leaving the two friends alone in the cockpit.

* * *

 

Nine hours of the flight pass uneventfully. Both Skye and Tony sleep through most of the flight as Melinda and Natasha fly the plane.

“How far away are we?” Tony asks walking into the cockpit.

“About an hour, maybe less.” Melinda answers.

“You’re not landing right near them are you?” Tony asks curious.

“Of course not.” Melinda answers, “I’m landing us about five kilometres away.” She explains.

“Good.” Tony responds, “I can do a patrol of the area when we get there, see if I can find anything.” Tony suggests.

“To risky.” Natasha comments, “We don’t know what the situation is.”

“Got it.” Tony comment. “Do you want me to go wake up Skye?” He asks curious.

“If you wouldn’t mind.” Melinda comments and Tony leaves the cockpit.  

“So any idea for a plan?” Natasha asks curious once Tony leaves.

“Save our Boys.” Melinda tells her best friend.

“So the usual then.” Natasha comments with a small smile.

* * *

 

An hour later they have landed and everyone is standing around the main area of the plane.

“If we head North West for five kilometres we will get to where the plane is.” Melinda tells the other three, “We don’t know what we will find when we get there, so we’ve got to be extra careful.” Melinda comments.

“Got it.” Skye responds.

“You’re going suited up?” Natasha asks Stark.

“Got to be prepared, and you two are suited up.” Tony points out as both Natasha and Melinda are wearing what they tend to wear on mission but without S.H.I.E.L.D logos.

“Skye make sure you’re with one of us of at all times.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I will.” Skye assures her mother.

“Good, let’s go. We’re waiting time.” Melinda says and the four leave the plane unsure of what they are going to find.

 

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	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

 **AN:** Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.

 **AN2:** Here’s the final chapter of Her Story Started Here, thank you so much to all of you who have supported me though this story, I am so thankful and your support means the world to me. The sequal will be up shortly. 

* * *

 

For the entire walk from Tony’s plane to the bus they walk in silence.  When they are only a few hundred meters form the plane the four of them squat down behind bushes so that they can see what is going on.

“Not good.” Skye comments as they notice several guards outside the cargo bay.

“No it’s not.” Melinda confirms.

“Tony do you have any way to see how many people are inside?” Natasha asks her friend curious.

“Yeah, give me a minute.” Tony says closing the face of his armour. “There is ten people in there.” Tony reveals. “Four down in the lab. Six upstairs in the command centre.” He reveals

“Five are our people, five are hostiles plus the three outside.” Melinda realises.

“Who’s the better shot?” Skye asks her Mother “You or тетя Наташа?” Skye asks curious.

“Why? What are you thinking?” Melinda asks her daughter curious.

“I have the night night gun, the Cargo bay is open so if we take out the outside guards then we can get inside easily.” Skye explains.

“Unless we time the attacks perfectly then we could be endangering the people above if we hit below first.” Natasha points out.

“Skye, Clint and Ward have been giving you lessons, do you think you hit the guards from over there?” Melinda asks her daughter pointing to the best tactical position.

“Yeah, I think so.” Skye responds slightly uncertain.

“I believe in you sweetheart, have the faith in yourself that I have in you.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Thanks Mom.” Skye tells her mother, her words meaning the world to her.

“Tasha do you have your bracelets?” Melinda asks her friend.

“Of course.” Natasha responds.

“Okay, then you and I are going in through the windows near the command centre.” Melinda tells her friend, “Tony you and Skye handle things down here. Look after my girl.” Melinda tells her friend.

“Of course.” Tony tells her friend.

“Good luck.” Skye tells her mom and Aunt.

“Have faith May.” Melinda tells her daughter as she hugs her.

“Be careful Mom.” Skye responds.

“On my mark, Com channel 1.” Melinda says and she and Natasha sneak away.

“You ready for this?” Tony asks Skye as they get into position.

“Yeah, I think I am Uncle Tony.” Skye responds.

“In five.” Melinda says through the coms, “Four, Three, Two, One.”

As soon as Skye hears her mother say one Skye shots the first guard with the night night gun, then the second, she misses the third the first time which results in both her and Tony needing to duck to avoid bullet fire but she manages to hit him with a second shot.

“Come on, and stay behind me.” Tony instructs the young woman and the pair start to head closer to the cargo bay and once more have to throw themselves down on the ground to avoid getting hit by bullet fire.

“Shot him.”  Tony tells Skye.

“I need a clear shot first.” Skye says back and manages to get a prefect shot on the guard while FitzSimmons manage to take down the final guard while he is distracted.

“What the hell happened?” Skye asks worried as she rushes towards her friend.

“We’ve got to get upstairs.” Simmons tells her friend.

“Mom and тетя Наташа are up there, they’ll handle everything.” Skye tells her friends.

“No you don’t understand, they put bomb vests on Coulson and Clint to get us to do what they wanted. They will blow them up.” Fitz reveals.

“What?” Skye asks sharing a look of horror with Tony, “Mom and тетя Наташа, they don’t know.” She realises in horror.

“Melinda, Natasha, Clint and Coulson are rigged to blow.” Tony says through the coms.

“We know, we’re handling it. Get the others out of here.” Melinda orders through the coms.

* * *

 

After leaving Tony and Skye, Natasha and Melinda make their way to the side of the plane where they hide in scrubs and Natasha silently fires a graphing hock out of her bracelet and it hits between the windows they plane to use to enter the plane.

“In five, four, three, two, one.” Melinda says and as soon as she says one she wraps her arm around Natasha’s waist and Natasha presses a button and on her bracelet that pulls the towards the hook and the pair each go in through one of the widows either side of the hock.

When they enter they manage to survive the guards so that they each manage to take down all three of them before they can react. Not hearing what Clint, Coulson and Ward are yelling as they do.

“What?” Natasha asks turning to face them and then noticing the bombs that Clint and Coulson have around them.

“We know, we’re handling it. Get the others out of here.” Melinda says through the coms to Tony.

“Who’s here with you?” Coulson asks as Melinda and Natasha carefully untie the three men.

“Skye and Tony.” Melinda answers, “What exactly are we looking at here?” She asks worried.

“C4, set to a timer. If a code isn’t entered every five minutes they blow.” Ward answers.

“How long?” Natasha asks.

“Three minutes.” Clint answers.

“Ward, Tash, you’re on.” Melinda comments knowing that they are the two best bomb defuses there is.

“Mel get out of here.” Coulson tells Melinda as Natasha and Ward remove the panels from the bomb casing in unison. 

“No way.” Melinda responds.

“Mom what’s going on?” Skye’s worried voice ask through the coms.

“Stay away from the plane until I tell you that you can come back.” Melinda tells her daughter as Natasha and Ward start discussing what wires to cut. “Tony keep them back.” Melinda instructs.

“Will do.” Tony responds.

“Mom, what’s going on?” Skye asks worried. “Are Dad and Uncle Clint still connected to the bombs?” She asks worried.

“Ward and Natasha are working on it.” Melinda responds. “Tasha, Ward?” Melinda asks.

“So we’re agreed?” Natasha asks Ward and Ward nods. “In three, two one.” Natasha says and at the same time they both cut the same wire on the respective bombs. Once the bombs are defused they both grab the bombs off of Coulson and Clint and run over to the broken window and throw them out of the window.

“It safe for you to come up.” Melinda says through the coms as she pulls Coulson up and into a hug and kiss.

Once Natasha gets back from throwing the bomb out the window she does the same with Clint.

About a minute later, Tony, Skye, and FitzSimmons comes running in. Skye gives Ward a quick hug then hugs both her parents at the same time.

“How did you guys know that something was wrong?” Clint asks interested.

“Long story.” Natasha responds.

“We’ve got the time.” Coulson responds.

“I realised that it had been a few days since we heard from you and Mom said that she you didn’t respond to her message about her being off bed rest so we tried to call you and Mom called your number that only she has and when you didn’t answer that we realised something was wrong.” Skye explains.

“So we called Fury and he told us that you were on a mission without Coms but that didn’t explain why you didn’t answer the phone. So Skye and I went to the Stark tower and find out where the plane was and came here.” Melinda explains leaving out the part about Skye using her powers until she can talk about it privately with Coulson as her agreeing to let Skye practice with and develop her powers goes against what they agreed to.

“Well thanks, we owe you guys.” Clint tells them.

“You know that’s not true.” Melinda tells her brother.

“We should secure all the prisoners and call Fury.” Ward comments.

“Right, we should.” Coulson comments agreeing and that’s just what they do.

* * *

 

An hour and one angry conversation with Fury later the group are sitting on the couches and chairs waiting for Fury and a team. They have secured all the prisoners and Ward, Clint and Tony are currently on guard duty.

Skye is sitting over by one of the un broken windows and Melinda walks over and sits next to her daughter.

“How are you feeling?” Melinda asks concerned.

“Stronger, still not strong enough to use my power but strong.” Skye informs her mother.

“I’m sorry about our plan for today. When we get home we’ll do what you want.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Aren’t we staying?” Skye asks surprised.

“I’m still technically not cleared for field work for at least another week and a half.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I think you’ve proved that you are.” Skye tells her mother.

“I don’t know if my Doctors, or Fury will see it that way.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“Do you not want to come back?” Skye asks interested as that’s what it seems like.

“Of course I do.” Melinda tells her daughter, “But I’ve loved spending time with you and I owe you a day of doing whatever you want.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I want to go horse riding.” Skye tells her mother, “That’ what I want, but whether we’re home or out in the field we can find time to do that.” Skye tells her mother.

“You called the house home.” Melinda tells her daughter surprised as it is the first time she has heard Skye refer to the house as home.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” Skye comments, “It is home and it’s going to be hard leaving it even to come back here, but whether we come back here now or two weeks doesn’t mean our spending time together ends, or at least I hope it doesn’t.” Skye tells her mother.

“I hope that too, Tai-Chi in the morning?” Melinda asks her daughter curious.

“Of course.” Skye responds with a grin, “And I’m guessing after, yesterday morning.” Skye says hesitantly trying to get the days right, “You’re going to want to supervise me practicing with my powers.”

“No. I trust you.” Melinda tells her daughter, “But you’ve got to tell me when you are going to practice with them so that I can make sure you are okay, and check up to make sure you’re not pushing yourself to hard.”  

“I’ll try better, It’s just it was like three in the morning, I didn’t want to wake you up.” Skye tells her mother.

“I don’t mind Skye, I would prefer you have woken me in case something happened.” Melinda explains to her daughter.

“I’ll remember that.” Skye tells her mother.

“Are you both okay?” Coulson asks concerned walking over and sitting across from his daughter and partner.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Skye tells her father, “How about you?”

“I’m good.” Coulson responds. “Despite everything, I’m glad you’re here, I’ve missed you both.”

“I’ve missed you too Dad.” Skye tells her father with a yawn.

“Are you okay?” Coulson asks concerned.

“I’m okay, just tied.” Skye comments. “But that’s understandable.”

“What do you mean?” Coulson asks confused.

“Skye you’re Aunt Natasha is boarding up the windows, why don’t you give her a hand.” Melinda suggests.

“Huh, why?” Skye begins to ask then notices the look her mother is giving her, “Right I’ll go help her.” Skye says getting up and walking over to Natasha.

“Want to tell me what that is about?” Coulson asks curious.

“A couple of days after you left for the plane there I heard a scream coming from Skye’s room. I rushed in and she explained to me that the reason she screamed is because she was practicing with her powers and she actually managed to push some of electrical energy out. We sat down and we talked she said that she was petrified that now she knew about her powers that she would accidently use them and hurt someone, so we came up with a deal.” Melinda explains.

“What kind of deal?” Coulson asks.

“She would continue to practice with her powers, which she was going to do anyway, but she would always tell me that she was planning to and if I told her to stop she would. For the most part she has suck to that.” Melinda explains.

“What do you mean for the most part?” Coulson asks worried.

“The reason she is so tired now is that because at three am this morning she couldn’t sleep so she decided to practice with her powers until she was tired enough to fall asleep, I didn’t know about that.” Melinda explain.

“How could you let her practice with her power?” Coulson asks “You don’t know what effect they could be having on her.” He comments worried

“She was going to practice anyway. This way I know when she is and if I think she is getting to tired or loosing control when he does then I can put a stop to it.” Melinda explains.

“That’s if she tells you.” Coulson points out.

“You didn’t see her Phil.” Melinda tells him, “She was terrified that she was going to hurt someone by accident. Yes I was worried about what it would do to her, I still am, but I’ve also seen what she can do now. She was able to tell that you we’re in trouble, even though she had nearly exhausted her powers.” Melinda tells Coulson, “Will I feel much better when she is being monitored by FitzSimmons when she uses her powers, of course, but she needed to start to learn that control or she would have been terrified ever second that she was going to hurt someone, I’m not going to apologise for that.” Melinda tells Coulson.

“I’m sorry.” Coulson responds, “You shouldn’t have to, I just feel like I’ve missed so much while you two were home and I was here.” He admits. “I’ve missed you.”

“We’ve missed you too.” Melinda tells him, “If I even suspected that using her powers was doing more to her than making her tied I would have stopped her from using them.” Melinda tells Coulson.

“I know you would.” Coulson says, getting up and walking over and sitting down next to her.

“How are you really dong?” Coulson asks worried, “You are just off of bed rest after all.” He comments.

“I feel good.” Melinda admits, “So you want to explain to me exactly how all of this happened?” Melinda asks curious.

“Sure.” Coulson says and he begins to explain the story of what has happened the last few days.

* * *

 

An hour later Director Fury has arrived the bus with repair men to fix the widows and a team to take away the prisoners. Coulson is currently getting yelled at by Fury up in his office.

“Agent Ward, a word please.” Melinda requests when the last of the prisoners are gone.

“Of course Agent May.” Ward responds positive that he knows what this is about.

“You know what this is about so I’m going to cut right to the chase.” Melinda informs him, “I know you have had this conversation with Phil and Clint and the others but you haven’t from me so I’m going to put this as simply as possible. My daughter likes you and wants to be with you and as long as that doesn’t change then I will not interfere and I will do my best to make sure no one else does either, but the second that changes, the second she gets hurt I will personally make your life a living hell. Are we clear?” Melinda asks Ward.

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Stark, Romanoff, Barton, May, up here.” Fury orders from the stairs.

“What are you doing Kid?” Clint asks amused as Skye has gotten up.

“He said May, I’m May.” Skye reminds her Uncle.

“True.” Clint says amused, “But I think he meant you’re Mom.” Clint tells her.

“You don’t know that.” Skye tells him.

“You might want to go talk to your Boy-Toy, it looks like he just had a conversation with your Mom.” Tony tells her.

“Yeah, I might do that.” Skye comments seeing Ward’s expression as Clint and Tony climb up the stairs, Natasha and Melinda not far behind them.  

* * *

 

“Close the door Romanoff.” Fury requests when they all reach the office. “First, May, Stark, Romanoff, what were you thinking?” He ask angrily.

“We knew that something was wrong, we did what we had to do Sir.” Melinda answers.

“In a few hours the windows will be fixed. Romanoff and Barton you are to report to the New York office in a week for re assignment. Melinda you are to go back in Stark’s jet and are not to step foot on this plane until you’re cleared to be. I believe you have an appointment with Doctor Streiten in six days, if you are cleared then you can re-join the plane when they arrive in New York in a week.” Fury informs her.

“Yes sir.” Melinda responds.

“Good you have an hour to be on your way back to New York.” Fury says before leaving the office.

“So looks like we’ve got another week.” Coulson comments.

“Looks like it.” Melinda comments

* * *

 

Half an hour later everyone is down in the Cargo Bay saying goodbye to each other.

“See you in a week Baby Girl.” Coulson says hugging his daughter goodbye.

“See you Dad.” Skye says hugging him and when they break apart Skye walks over to Ward while Melinda walks over to Coulson.

“So I guess I’ll see you in a week.” Skye comments to Ward.

“Yeah, I guess you will Rookie.” Ward tells her and Skye gives him a hug goodbye, both of them worried about what everyone else will do if they do more.

After saying goodbye to everyone Skye, Natasha, Melinda and Stark leave the plane. Melinda and Skye both thinking that they want the next week to pass quickly.

* * *

 

For the next week Melinda spends most of her time doing everything she can to make sure she will be cleared for field work, most of the time Skye is right by her side doing the same things or if she isn’t she is watching her mother. Two days after they get back to New York they have their day together which like Skye wanted is Melinda teaching her to ride a horse.

When Melinda and Skye go to the New York field office the day before Coulson is due back in New York Melinda is cleared for duty though Skye suspects that part of the reason she is, is because Doctor Streiten was scared about what she would do to him if he didn’t clear her.

* * *

 

It about nine am a week after Melinda and Skye left the plane and Skye is in her room packing the stuff that she wants to take with her to the plane. For the first time she is leaving her possessions somewhere because she knows that they will be safe.

“Come in.” Skye responds to the knock on the door and she turns to see her father standing at her door.

“Dad, when did you get here?” Skye asks surprised.

“A few minutes ago, I believe you we’re singing along to Spice Girls.” Coulson comments with a grin.

“Please don’t tell anyone.” Skye says as she walks over to her computer and turns off her music that is playing, “Uncle Clint and Fitz would never let me hear the end of it.” Skye tells her father.

“Don’t worry your secret is safe with me.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“Good, thanks Dad.” Skye tells him.

“You ready to go?” Coulson asks curious.

“Almost.” Skye responds, “MOM HAVE YOU SEEN MY BLAK LEATHER JACKET?” Skye yells.

“WHICH ONE?” Melinda yells from across the hall.

“THE ONE WITH BUTTONS OVER THE ZIP.” Skye yells back.

“You know you could just walk across the hall.” Coulson tells his daughter.

“This is better.” Skye responds.

“It’s in the bathroom.” Melinda says standing at the door with a large duffle bag.

“Why’s it the bathroom?” Skye asks confused.

“You put it there after you cleaned it after the milkshake incident.” Melinda explains.

“Ah right, that makes senses.” Skye says, “Excuse me.” Skye says walking between her parents to head across to the bathroom.

“Milkshake incident?” Coulson asks curious.

“Don’t ask.” Melinda responds and a minute later Skye walks back in.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Skye comments as she pics up a couple of her photos from her chest of draws and puts them in her bag and places her laptop in her its bag.  

“That all you’re taking?” Coulson asks surprised as Skye has only a large bag and her new laptop bag on her bed.

“Yeah.” Skye tells her father “This is my room, for the first time I have a place where I can leave things and know that they’ll be here when I come back, that’s an amazing feeling.” She reveals.

“Are you okay?” Melinda asks concerned as she notices Skye staring at different things in her room.

“Yeah, it’s just….” Skye begins to say but she trails off.

“Just what?” Coulson asks concerned.

“This is my room, I’ve never had that before.” Skye tells her parents, “I thought the story of who I am now began when you and Ward picked me out of my van but it didn’t, my story started here with you guys, it’s hard to leave that.” Skye explains.

“It’s not forever.” Melinda tells her daughter, “This is your room and it always will be, no matter what.” Melinda tells her “This is your home, we can come back any time you want.” Melinda tells her daughter.

“I’d like that.” Skye tells her mother, “I’ll see you down in the car.” Skye says grabbing her bags off the bed and walking out of the room.

“Are you alright?” Melinda asks Coulson concerned as he is running his hand across the ‘May’s room’ sign on the door.

“Yeah I’m okay.” Coulson responds, “I didn’t think I would be able to call this place home again, but now I can without it feeling like my heart is going to explode.” Coulson explains to Melinda.

“I know the feeling.” Melinda responds, “You know, we may have met at the academy but her story isn’t the only one that started here.” Melinda comments before following her daughter downstairs.

Coulson has one last look at the room that wasn’t changed for so long the room that finally looks like what it should always have, lived in, before turning of the light, closing the door and heading downstairs to face whatever it is that may come with his family by his side.

 

THE END

 

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 **AN3:** Once again thank you so much. Like I said the sequel is out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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